Have a Little Faith
by MrsEclipse9856
Summary: The story through the eyes of Harry's older daughter, Faith. OC/Sharp
1. Chapter 1

AN: So, I caught this movie on TV the other day and it's stuck in my head. As much as I love this flick, it has always bothered me that there was no girl oil driller. So... I made one up. I don't own anything but Faith.

*Jaimie Alexander is my reference for Faith  
polyvore com/have _little _faith /set? id=166609519 (Remove the spaces and add the www and the dots)

* * *

"Harry, this not funny!" Faith Stamper heard her sister, Grace, yell. Whatever was going on, it was not good. Faith hopped over the railing in search of her little sister and their dad.

Living and working on an oil rig meant that everyone lived in close quarters for a month at a time, sometimes people clashed but this was different. She knew she was close to her dad when she heard him talking to Chick. "So, is this a serious thing?"

Harry looked at the man next to him as he marched through the rig, "Pretty serious."

Faith knew exactly what was going on when she realized who her father was chasing. The engineer rolled her eyes, "Oh, for fuck's sake, Harry, she's nineteen."

Her dad looked at her, "What is with you two not calling me dad like normal people?"

Faith glared, "Normal? Since when the hell are we normal? Girls Grace's age are usually in college, not managing operations for an oil company. I hate to break it to you but we aren't kids anymore. And you're six months late on the whole AJ thing." Faith knew something like this was coming the second she found out about her sister's relationship with the rig's resident hothead. She promised not to tell on the pair but warned Grace that Harry was gonna flip his shit if they didn't let him know. AJ was more like Harry than either man cared to acknowledge. That was probably why Grace connected with AJ in the first place.

Her father locked his sky blue eyes with her hazel, "You knew?"

"Of course I knew. She's my baby sister and I know everything that happens around here. It's my company too, you know." She pulled the shotgun from his grasp and heard Chick let out the breath he was holding. "You can't go shooting up the rig, I put too much work into keeping everything functional and I'd have to hurt you if you did some damage. Now, if you want to know what's going on go talk to them like a normal person. They love each other and if you paid attention, you'd see it."

Her dad huffed but before he could say anything, Grace pushed past them to AJ. She didn't say anything as her sister wrapped her arms around AJ's middle, Harry glaring at them the whole time.

"How the hell did I end up being the adult?" she asked the driller next to her.

Chick looked at her, "Well, you are smarter than him." She nudged her dad's best friend and the man who was practically her uncle. He had a point.

Harry looked at them, "I can hear you."

Faith shrugged, "And?"

"He's just being a dad, monkey."

She smiled at the use of her childhood nickname and nodded, "Too bad he's a few years too late. We grew up right under his nose."

Chick put his hand on her shoulder, "Yea, but at least he's trying. We should all be so lucky." She knew he was thinking about his son.

"You and Denise will sort it out. Hopefully, before Tommy turns forty?"

He chuckled, "Yeah, here's hoping."

"Hey, we got incoming!" Rockhound alerted them to the helicopter that was preparing to touch down on the pad.

"Chick, go welcome the clients. Gracie and Frost, go get dressed. Dad, office and don't hurt anyone. We have a lot of work to do." They all looked at her. "Move." Faith watched as they all scurried off in different directions.

Faith was usually the voice of reason around here. When she was twelve and Grace was five, their mother split. Harry was short on options so he took the girls to work with him. She ended up being the person who kept an eye on her sister. Sometimes, she felt like the girl's mother, which was sad since she was only seven years older than Grace. Both girls went to school online and Faith took to helping out around the rig. The more she helped, the more she learned. Harry was proud when she decided to get her engineering degree.

Between working through spring and summer breaks and applying to take stacked courses, she got her Master's of Science in Mechanical Engineering in four and a half years from Texas A&amp;M. The hard part was getting Harry to let her come back to the rig. He wanted her to go off and do 'something great' but she wanted to do what she loved. She threatened to work for another oil company before he relented and gave her a job on the crew.

She took the weapon back to her office and shook her head. Faith started to head back to where she was working when Freddy rounded the corner. "Was Harry really shooting at AJ?"

She nodded, "Yep."

"_And_ that's why you two lovely ladies are strictly 'look but don't touch' in my book. You're my friend, you're hot as sin and I love you to death but getting my balls shot off by your dad is not on my to-do list," he said with a chuckle.

Faith laughed, "Maybe you should've dropped that bit of advice on AJ."

Some of the guys on the rig were too dumb for their own good. Both Stamper girls learned a long time ago not to get too close to the guys like that. Faith can honestly say that she's never been with anyone on the crew but that didn't stop some from trying. Freddy reminds her all the time that they're both attractive. Grace had beautiful pale skin, a slender build, long black hair and their father's blue eyes. Faith had a slight tan from being in the sun, her body was toned from working on the rig, like her sister she had long black hair but she got their mother's hazel eyes.

"He's stubborn. Even if I did say something, he wouldn't have listened. You know AJ." Her best friend had a very valid point. AJ has worked for Stamper Oil for five years and his dad worked for Harry for a decade and a half before that. She knew he'd ignore it if they warned him.

"What I know is that none of this is gonna end well." No sooner had she said the words did she feel a tremor under her feet. "Shit."

"Harry, get up here. We're taking a hit." She heard Alex call to her father. Faith and Freddy flew up the ladder and got to work.

"GET AJ UP HERE!" Harry yelled. Her dad was pissed, if she had to guess, AJ turned on the number two pump after her dad turned it off last night. Faith started reading the instruments in front of her. The gauge was losing it.

"DAD! ITS A GAS POCKET," she yelled. He nodded.

"I told you! I told you! Am I a genius or what?" AJ seemed pleased with himself, too bad he fucked up.

"I shut it down for a reason, jackass. The relief valve is fried open." She heard her father say.

"SHUT DOWN NUMBER TWO!" Bear called up to them.

Faith looked over to where her sister was, "GRACIE, GET THE CLIENTS CLEAR!" Faith was helping Bear and some of the guys clamp down the pipe when Harry told them all to bail out. Faith didn't need to be told twice, "GO! GO!" She pushed whoever was in front of her towards safety.

Faith watched as her dad and AJ used the manual shut off. She looked around to make sure everyone was okay, the whole group was covered in oil.

"We stuck oil _BABY_!" She laughed at Bear's antics but she was worried. From the look on his face, AJ's bad day just got a whole lot worse.

"You fired him?" she asked her dad.

Harry nodded as he walked past her, "I had to." AJ was one of the best guys on the crew. Sure, he didn't listen but he had more potential than anyone on the rig except for her.

"Who's Harry Stamper?" Another helicopter just landed, only this one was military. A guy who looked like he was in charge and some pilots stepped up to the group of oil-covered roughnecks.

"I'm Harry Stamper." She watched her dad talk to the Air Force officers. "What do you think that's about?" Benny asked over her shoulder. She honestly had no idea. Whatever they were talking about, Harry was leaving with them. One of the officers approached her and another walked over to Grace.

"Ma'am." She looked over the guy's shoulder and Harry gave her a nod. Faith tossed her hardhat to Freddy and let the officer lead her to the chopper.

"What's going on?" Grace asked before Faith could.

Harry shrugged at Grace's question, "I don't actually know, girls." After being asked to turn over their phones –which were covered in oil- they were strapped in and the helicopter took off. The engineer didn't like this.

"If you don't mind my asking, where are we going?" The General gave Grace a look but didn't answer her question.

The helicopter landed on a US Navy ship, a carrier from the size of it. They were given clean clothes and a place to shower before they were loaded onto a plane and flown to Hawaii. From the Air Force base, they took another plane to Texas.

"What the hell are we doing here?" Harry asked to no one in particular. It's not like they ever answered them. Once they landed, they were put in SUVs with FBI agents and driven to the Johnson Space Center.

"Nothing good ever comes out of being called to NASA," Faith whispered to her dad.

"Mister Stamper, Miss Stamper and Miss Stamper," a man standing on the front step confirmed.

Her father nodded and shook hands with the man, "Yea, I'm Harry Stamper. My daughters; Faith and Grace."

The man shook her hand and then Grace's. "I'm Executive Director Dan Truman and on behalf of the President, I would like to…"

"Apologize. I don't know if we can take much more of that. We've spent the last eighteen hours being apologized to. If it's alright with you, just tell us why we're here."

Truman looked at her and Grace, "Maybe we should talk alone."

Harry shook his head, "I don't keep things from my girls. You can tell 'em now or I'll tell 'em later but they'll find out either way. Let's get on with it."

Truman and another Air Force General named Kimsey led them through the building and into a briefing room. Everyone except Truman stood by the wall as he told the Stamper family to take a seat. He hit some commands on the screen and a big blob appeared. "This is Dottie. It's an asteroid that's heading this way." Faith sat up straight a looked at the pictures; the thing was massive. Harry sucked in a breath as Truman began to explain.

"When the rogue comet went through the asteroid belt, it sent shrapnel right for us. For the next eleven days, the Earth is in a shooting gallery. Even if the asteroid itself hits the water, it's still hitting land. It will slam into the ocean bedrock. Now if it's a Pacific Ocean impact, which we think it will be, it will create a tidal wave about three miles high, flash boil millions of gallons of sea water. It will hit the West Coast and wash up in Denver. Japan is gone, Australia is wiped out. Half of the Earth's population will be incinerated by the heat blast, the rest will freeze to death in a nuclear winter."

"That's unbelievable." she heard her sister whisper.

Truman looked at the youngest person in the room, "Actually, this is as real as it gets. It's coming, right now. Right for us at twenty-two thousand miles an hour and none of us can hide from it."

Harry looked at him, "I'm goin' out on a limb that you aren't telling everyone like this."

Truman nodded, "Nobody knows and that's how we'll keep it."

"What about the meteor shower a few days ago?" Faith asked him. She heard the news while they were on the ship.

Truman faced her, "Right now it's an isolated incident."

Faith understood that, "Anything more would cause a panic."

The director nodded, "There are only nine telescopes that can see it, eight of them are ours. The president has classified this information as Top Secret."

Truman explained the kind of worldwide break down they would have if everyone knew that the world was gonna end in a little over seventeen days. "There are six billion people on this planet, why did you call me?" her father asked.

Truman looked at him, "Because, you're the best. Come on." Grace grabbed her hand as they all filed out of the room and walked through the building.

Faith took a millisecond to geek out because, despite the circumstances, she's a mechanical engineer who's walking through NASA. It was like being a little kid in a candy store. They were taken out to one of the hangers.

"We need you to prep the team we're sending up."

Harry looked at Truman, "Up?"

The NASA director nodded, "They'll go up, drill, drop the nukes, hull ass and detonate."

Grace squeezed her hand as Faith took in the sight before her. It was her rig. Faith and Harry designed it a few years ago. It started as project when they weren't working and grew from there.

Doctor Quincy stepped up, "This is the prototype we've been working on for Mars, you might recognize the design."

"We should, it's ours. What did you do, steal a key to the patent's office?" Harry asked the scientist.

"Basically," Truman told them.

Faith couldn't hold her tongue, "Are you shittin' me? We got pulled off our rig and dragged halfway around the world because you stole our design and fucked it up?"

Quincy looked at her, "Patents don't apply to outer space…"

"Shut up, doc. It's not going to Mars anymore, it's gonna try to save this planet and we need to know what's wrong with it pretty quick. You said we did a bad job of putting it together…" Truman started.

Harry cut the man off, "No, she said you 'fucked it up.' For starters, you guys have the flow system all reversed."

Faith looked at Quincy, "Been tearing up rotors and you have no idea why?"

The scientist nodded, "Yea."

She sighed, "Cams are all wrong, doc." There were actually a few things wrong.

Harry looked at Truman, "Who's been operating this thing?" The man pointed behind them to a group of men in NASA jumpsuits. Faith rolled her eyes. Great, Boy Scouts.

"They've been training for eight months," Quincy told them.

She chuckled, "On a drill that doesn't work. That they couldn't fix. I hate to be the devil's advocate but they just wasted eight months." Harry nodded before he and Truman walked away from the group of NASA and Air Force personnel. Faith watched the two men and she just knew. She glanced at her sister, "He's gonna do it."

Quincy looked at her, "How do you know?"

"I know my dad." Harry and Truman came back after a few minutes.

She knew she was right from the look in her father's eyes. "When do we start?"

Harry chuckled, "About an hour ago."


	2. Chapter 2

Faith sped though the medical and psychological examinations while her dad and Grace told Truman were to find their team. The whole thing was mostly painless, she was just glad that Rock and Oscar weren't anywhere near her to see the damn hospital gown she was in, it hid nothing. After passing the exams she went to work on fixing the drill and coming up with a mount to attach the drill to the vehicles. Truman called them armadillos but she thought they looked like overgrown monster trucks.

"How far did you get?" Grace's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

She smiled at her sister, "I did good. Truman has a list of everything we'll need and I drew up the plans. I'll be working on the rig tomorrow when the guys are in medical. Any of them here yet?"

Grace shook her head, "Oscar and AJ will be here in a few minutes. Rock, Bear, Max and Freddy will be here in an hour and Chick in two."

* * *

How do you tell your friends that the world was gonna end? Faith doesn't know and she's glad that she's not the person telling them. They were all curious as to why they were dragged to Texas but Harry waited until they were all there before he broached the subject. "The reason we were all brought here was because of this." He explained the asteroid to the drillers and stopped to let it all sink in.

"None of you have to go. We can all just sit here on Earth, wait for this big rock to crash into it, kill everything and everybody we know. The United States government just asked us to save the world. Anybody wanna say no?" Harry stood before his men.

Unsurprisingly, Chick spoke up first, "Twenty years. Haven't turned you down once. Not about to start now. I'm there."

"Guess I can't let you go up there alone," Freddy told them after he looked around the room.

Bear kept it simple, "I'm with you."

Oscar was practically bouncing in his seat, "Man, this is… this is historic. Guys, this is… like, deep blue hero shit! Of course, I'm in." She shook her head.

"While I don't share _his_ enthusiasm, you know me. Beam me up, Scotty!" Man, she loved Rockhound.

"You all right, Max?" Harry asked the usually happy man.

Max's head was resting on the table, "I… I don't, I… I don't... Whatever you think." That was a yes.

Harry looked at AJ, "How about you?"

Her sister's boyfriend looked at her father, "I'm in." He glanced over at her and she knew that they were thinking the same thing, for Grace.

For the first time since they got there, the reality of the situation hit Faith. They were going into space to stop a giant rock from obliterating their planet. Six billion lives hinged on what they were being asked to do.

"All right then. We go, " Harry said to the room.

Rock had to be the one to cut the tension, "I don't mean to be the materialistic weasel of this bunch, but do you think we'll get hazard pay out of this?" Faith couldn't help herself, she laughed. It started a chain reaction through the guys.

"I bet if you make a list they'll let you have anything you want, Rock," Faith told the ladies man.

The guys all added stuff to the list. Freddy nudged her, "You want anything?"

She shook her head, "What I want can't be promised to me by NASA." She wanted them to be safe but she knew that it was a long shot. She took a breath as they passed the papers to her father.

He chuckled, "I'll go fill Truman in."

* * *

How the boys were cleared for this mission, she'll never know. Maybe NASA needed them too bad to worry about their mental and physical stability. They were pulled into a smaller hanger then the one she'd been working in and instructed to sit down at a table. Astronaut 101 was on deck for today. She sat between Chick and Freddy as their instructor sized them all up. She looked up and found herself staring into a pair of piercing blue eyes. Well, holy hotness, Batman. She wasn't usually one for military types but this one had an appeal, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Good morning, I'm Colonel Willie Sharp. In addition to flying one of the X-71 teams to that rock, my job is to train you how to deal with the mental and physical riggers of working in space so you don't freak out on the asteroid. United States astronauts train for years. You have twelve days. Do we have any intelligent questions before we get started?" the blue eyed hottie told them.

Chick raised his hand, "What's an X-71?"

Faith knew that one, "It's a shuttle, two of them actually. Brand new, high tech and all kinds of classified. I got to see one last night. Truman said you guys will get to see 'em later before they get sent to Florida for launch prep."

Sharp nodded, "That's where you're heading after this class." He flipped open a book and they got started.

Faith knew that the guys weren't feeling this but she liked learning and it didn't hurt that the instructor was nice to look at. Chick, Oscar, Freddy and Rock seemed to be into what Sharp was telling them. Her dad, Bear, AJ and Max seemed indifferent. Looking at the colonel, he could probably tell.

When class wrapped up and they got a quick lunch, the guys went to see the shuttle and Faith went to the hanger where they were gonna work on the armadillos. She didn't even realize that the guys showed up until Truman started talking. "Here at downtown NASA, we call these the monster armadillos. They can go up to eight hundred turbohorses in zero gravity."

"What the hell are they doing to them?" She heard someone ask.

Faith jumped down from where she was working, "Stripping unnecessary bullshit and prepping for the mount to be welded on." The pilots looked at her as she relayed to her guys everything that needed to be done.

"I got a list of stuff for ya, boys. We don't have a ton of time, so let's go." Her guys didn't need to be told twice. Chick grabbed her clipboard as he passed her and started issuing assignments.

"Faith."

She looked at Truman, "Yea?"

He motioned towards the pilots, "Flight team." He introduced her to the pilots and munitions specialists.

"Nice to meet you but I got about a million things to do, so if you'll excuse me." The woman, Watts, smirked while the guys had looks on their faces that told her they weren't expecting her to be intelligent or focused. That was their problem. She didn't wait for a response before she went back to what she was doing before they showed up.

"Score one for monkey. They've been giving us the evil eye since we got here," Chick stage whispered.

She nudged the older man, "Just calling it like it is."

Freddy chuckled, "Too bad none of us can pull that off without looking like assholes."

Rockhound laughed, "That's because she's…"

"_Rock._" They all looked at Harry.

Rockhound put his hands up, "What? I was gonna say brilliant and badass." They all knew better but nobody called him out on it. They worked for a few more hours before Truman showed up and forced them to get chow.

Faith picked a table away from the guys. As much as she loves them, sometimes you just need a few minutes to yourself. It didn't last long as Grace sat next to her. "You alright?"

She smiled at her sister, "Yea. Just thinking."

"'Bout what?" Grace asked.

Faith smiled, "About life and how it could all end if we fail."

Grace chuckled, "You're too much like Harry to fail." They both laughed at that, Grace had a point.

"These seats taken?" The sisters looked up as Tucker, Watts, Davis and Sharp stood in front of them.

Grace smiled, "Not at all."

The pilots sat down and Tucker looked over at her, "What are you working on?"

Faith looked at the pilot, "The cluster fuck that NASA made out of my rig."

Grace whacked her on the arm, "Excuse my sister, tact is not her strongest trait."

"I don't have enough patience to be tactful, right now. If I don't fix the drill, there is no point to any of this." She realized that her guys were all paying attention to the conversation.

Tucker looked at her, "NASA has some of the best engin…"

"Spare me. I designed the drill and they didn't even read the plans right. Eight months they had the others training on the damn thing and it didn't even work, so forgive me if I have no faith in their ability to do something that they should've got right the first time. And I am an engineer." The looks on their faces told Faith that they didn't know, "Let me guess, Kimsey didn't tell you?"

Tucker shook his head, "Nope."

She rolled her eyes. "Not surprised. Oscar is a Geologist. Rock has double doctorates in Chemistry and Geology. Noonan has a Masters in Math. I have a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from TAMU. We're a much smarter bunch than the General would have you believe."

Kimsey hates them and he's not even shy about showing it. She swears if that man glares at her one more time she was gonna hit him. It's not their fault that the world was gonna end and it's not their fault that NASA couldn't fix it without them. He's just wasting his energy being pissed at them.

Grace smiled, "Look, contrary to what some of you seem to think, we aren't idiots. Our job is too dangerous for that. If one person drops the ball, we could all get ourselves killed. That's every day. It's not as simple as flipping the switch on a drill or more people would do it. These guys aren't the best because they work for Harry, they work for Harry because they're the best, there's a difference."

"Sorry. I guess I didn't even think about it." Tucker told them.

Faith chuckled, "It's because the guys are obnoxious."

She laughed when they all yelled, "HEY!"

Grace shook her head, "And that's what you get for eavesdropping." Their guys all turned back to their own tables and conversations.

Faith sighed as she got up, "They're loud and crazy but they're also some of the best people you'll ever meet. Wouldn't have said yes to this crazy Hail Mary plan otherwise."

* * *

"Can I ask you a personal question, Miss Stamper?" Faith practically jumped out her skin, she was working on the drill and didn't hear Sharp come in.

"That was a question, Colonel. And for the millionth time, it's Faith." He gave her a humorless look. She sighed, "Go ahead."

"Why oil drilling?" he asked.

She smiled, "Love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life. That and it's the family business, me and Gracie are fourth generation."

Sharp nodded, "Do you ever wish you picked something else?"

"Not really. I love what I do. Do you ever wish you weren't a pilot?" Faith asked.

"Only once, right before I got divorced."

She looked at him, "Wife didn't like being the mistress to the Air Force?"

He nodded, "She was tired of the life, wanted me to quit." Faith could understand that. She's met her fair share of guys who looked at her like she was crazy when she told them her profession.

"I know the feeling."

He looked at her, "I'm sure you do. Not a lot of men could handle their girlfriend being surrounded by a bunch of guys."

She chuckled, "Pretty much. They always fail to realize that those guys are just family. I was raised by half of them."

He chuckled, "Really?"

"Chick and Rock have been friends with dad since I was like five. I don't remember a time where they weren't around, Bear and Max too. Freddy's my best friend and Oscar and AJ are like my little brothers. I got some other friends on the rig but still." She took a breath. "You think it's too much to hope that we'll all come home in one piece?"

"I don't think it's too much. That's the point, right? Hope." Faith smiled, he had a look on his face that she recognized all too well.

"How many and how old?"

Sharp offered her a real smile, "Clare is eight and Ella is six. They don't know about this..." He paused for a moment. "I didn't mean to get this personal or bother you, I was just curious."

She smiled, "You aren't bothering me. I'm a master at multitasking."

She kept working on the flow system the whole time he was there. Sharp chuckled, "I can see that. Don't stay up too late, underwater simulations start tomorrow."

She nodded, "Thanks for the heads up."

"You're welcome. Good night, Miss Stamper."

She smiled, "'Night, Colonel. And it's Faith." He nodded and she watched as he left the room. Fate is such a bitch. Of course she meets a nice guy two weeks before the world is supposed to end.

* * *

"Monkey, wake up."

She blinked her eyes open, "I hate you so much, Chick."

He laughed, "You couldn't hate me if you tried." That was true. She sat up and looked over at the empty bed.

"If Grace is with AJ, is Oscar in there too?"

Chick shook his head, "No, he's rooming with Rock."

"That's just asking for trouble."

Chick nodded, "Yea, but the only other option was to put him with you and I'm sure you'd kill him. Go get dressed; they said something about a pool."

Faith nodded, "Underwater sims. Supposed to mimic zero grav."

She pushed herself up, took a quick shower and met the guys in the cafeteria. Tucker was explaining to them how it all worked. They were gonna be in suits with a mock-up of the armadillos and drills, using the computers, they were gonna practice.

Faith was a little nervous as they walked to the pool. She doesn't know why the pilots went with them, maybe they wanted to see what they'd be dealing with on the asteroid, no pressure. "You guys got any advice?"

"Breathe. First instinct in the water is to panic but you're wearing a suit that designed to keep you alive in a no oxygen environment. If you panic you use up all your air. So, breathe normally," Sharp said from behind her.

Faith looked over her shoulder at the officer, "Thanks."

He nodded, "You're welcome."

Freddy nudged her. She shrugged, "What?"

He glanced at Sharp and then back at her, "What's the deal with that?"

Before she could answer, Chick looked at them, "What's up, monkey?"

She shook her head, "Nothing that I know of."

Freddy shook his head, "Uh huh."

"Monkey?" They were standing by the pool when Tucker looked at her.

"I used to climb on stuff. Still do if the situation calls for someone who isn't afraid of heights."

Harry shook his head, "She used to scare the shit out of me. I'm just glad Grace stayed on the ground."

Faith looked at AJ; he has a stupid grin on his face. She really doesn't want to know. Luckily, she didn't get a chance to think about it too hard since the NASA people got started.

"Lady and Gentlemen, welcome to our Weightless Environment Training Facility."


	3. Chapter 3

"You're about the saddest bunch I have ever seen. You're space flight is gonna be a brutal assault on your senses, I'm here to give you a taste of that. NASA has some of the best pilots in the world. They're gonna be sucking your eyes into the back of your heads. They're gonna twist ya. And they're flip ya. We're gonna wrap your bodies until your bones hurt. When you squeal, we're just gonna go faster and harder."

Faith swallowed. They went from the weightless training in the pool into the air. They had to learn how to keep their shit together going at mach speeds. She wasn't afraid to fly like AJ and Rock but this guy, Chuck, was not making her feel good about any of this. She looked at her dad and he was already turning green. After giving them the rundown, they were all getting paired with a pilot.

"Stamper," Chuck called in their direction.

"Which one?" Faith and Harry replied on instinct. Apparently, one of them was flying with Chuck and if she was being honest, Faith was scared shitless that it was her.

Chuck looked at them as Watts chuckled, "They're father and daughter. Harry, you're with Chuck. Faith, you're with Sharp." She nodded and looked around the room for him. When she spotted the pilot, she grabbed her gear and followed him onto the tarmac.

"Nervous, Miss Stamper?" the colonel asked her.

"Terrified. I have a very healthy respect for gravity."

Sharp chuckled, "I won't let anything happen to you but I won't go easy on you either."

Faith nodded, "Fair enough." He told her to put on her helmet before giving her a quick rundown and instructing her to climb up the ladder. She paid attention during the safety brief, so she knew not to do anything unless he told her to.

"You'll be fine. I'm pretty sure that I know what I'm doing." Who is this person and what did he do with the real Colonel Sharp?

"You have a sense of humor. Here, I was beginning to think that you weren't a real boy."

He laughed, "A Pinocchio reference?" She nodded as he helped her strap in and Faith couldn't help but watch the way his hands moved.

"You okay?"

Faith wasn't entirely sure so she just nodded, "Yea." He smiled before getting into his own seat.

Sharp strapped in, "Can you hear me?"

She took a breath, "Yes."

The pilot chuckled, "You gotta breathe, Faith."

She smiled, "Oh, now you use my first name. I'll do my best." He talked to the flight control tower for a few minutes before they gave him the okay to go.

"Alright, this is it." Faith took in everything around her as they taxied down the runway and shot into the sky.

"Whoa." It was like nothing she's ever seen before.

She heard Sharp chuckle, "Yea, it gets me every time." Faith knew the feeling; it was like striking oil.

They flew around for a few minutes before she heard his voice again. "Alright, Faith, remember to breathe." That was all the warning she got before he pulled some maneuvers. Twists, turns, barrel rolls, spirals, spins, flips; you name it. She felt like she got tossed into that Gravitron ride at the carnival that spins you into the wall really fast, only this was a thousand times faster.

Despite the speed and maneuvers, she was actually starting to relax, "Thought you weren't gonna go easy on me."

He chuckled, "I'm not. I got something you might like. It's not as intense as the other stuff, just really cool." She could hear the smile in his voice, Sharp was in his element and it sounded good on him.

She smiled, "I'm game."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, he took them into an inside loop, then corkscrewed into a spiral that went straight up. Then he leveled them out, upside down.

"Look up at the ground," he instructed her as the plane flew upside down.

Faith smiled. "Okay, that's cool," she whispered to herself.

She doesn't know how long they were like that when Sharp flipped the aircraft upright, "They're calling us back."

She sighed, "Just when it was getting good."

Sharp laughed, "Hey, I pulled out some of my best tricks. I'm surprised you didn't blow chunks. Bet you twenty that your guys did."

"I'm not taking that. Rock and Max did for sure, maybe dad, AJ and Freddy." It wasn't anything against them, she just knows them all too well. Rock only flies when he has to, same with Max. Her dad is usually fifty-fifty.

"Some of the pilots bet against you. Tucker didn't."

Faith chuckled, "Did you?"

"Wouldn't be fair if I did since you're in my plane. I bet against Harry," he told her. Faith doesn't know why but that made her smile. Sharp got them back and on the ground in no time flat. She was actually sad that it was over.

After getting unstrapped, Faith climbed down the ladder after Sharp did. She was wobbly when her feet hit the ground. "Steady."

She took a couple deep breaths, "I'm good. I'm good."

He took her helmet off her head put a hand on her shoulder, "Deep breaths." Faith nodded and did what he told her to do.

Faith took a deep breath and stood up straight, "I'm good." S

harp chuckled as he removed his hand, "You said that already, Miss Stamper."

She looked at him, "This time I mean it."

Sharp smiled, "Yes, ma'am."

Faith chuckled as they started to walk, "So, we're back to ma'am and Miss Stamper, huh?"

"It's just habit. I'll call you Faith if it makes you feel better."

She smiled, "Considering that we all might die, it does make me feel better."

He nodded, "Okay, Faith."

She chuckled, "That sounded painful. You know, I don't bite. Do we need to get back in the plane for you to be comfortable around me?"

The pilot smiled, "Maybe. You were right about your guys."

Faith looked around; Max was leaning between Tucker and Davis. AJ was sitting with his head in his hands, Grace was rubbing his neck. Bear looked like years had been taken off his life. Freddy, Chick and Oscar looked okay but she didn't even see Rockhound.

"My dad is green."

Sharp looked in Harry's direction, "I didn't know someone could turn that color."

Faith chuckled, "Oh my God, you got jokes."

He smiled, "Just a few." They walked into the hanger and a bunch of the pilots looked in their direction. "Tucker won your bet. She's not even nauseous." She was a little nauseous but she wasn't about to admit it.

"YEAH! Told you," the Independence pilot called.

Faith shook her head a looked at him, "Does this mean you're buying the drinks when we get back?"

Tucker tossed an arm over her shoulder, "Definitely. We'll have a team Independence party."

She looked up at him, "We can't exclude the others, Tucker."

He chuckled, "You sound like a mom."

"Some days, I am." With that, she slipped from under his arm and walked over to their resident skirt chaser. "You alright, Rock?" He shook his head. Faith wrapped her arms around him and he rested his head on her shoulder. "Don't puke on me and watch where you put your hands, I don't want to have to hurt you." She expected him to chuckle but he just nodded and closed his eyes.

"Rock's not groping Faith… it's a miracle," Freddy quipped from behind her.

The others laughed and Chick looked at her, "Never thought I'd see the day that he was too wreaked to notice that his face was near her chest." Faith didn't mind, she likes Rock when he's not flirting with her.

"I don't know about you but I'm gonna go get chow," Chuck said as he walked through the room. Faith knew Rock was gonna lose it a second before he did. Davis handed Rock the trash can and Faith jumped back just in time to get out of the way.

Rock looked up at her, "That was mean."

She nodded, "Yea it was."

Truman had the doctor come look over everyone who got sick and let the rest of them go for the evening. Freddy looked at her as they all walked away, "I think I'm gonna take a shower and crash."

She nodded, "I might do some work first, I'm almost done with the drill."

"You need some help?" Oscar asked her.

"No, I got it."

The blonde laughed, "I think you just want to take all the credit for yourself."

Freddy shook his head, "You know, when we're all heroes, I'm gonna thank Faith for all she's done for me. Best sidekick ever."

She looked at him, "Sidekick my ass, I'm a super hero. Besides, it's my rig. I didn't see you designing it."

They all tossed around different heroes until Oscar asked, "So, who would Faith be?"

"I'm Iron Man," she declared.

The guys laughed and Freddy looked at her, "Seriously? How do you figure?"

She was gonna answer them but Sharp beat her to it, "Tony Stark is a brilliant engineer who builds equipment that saves the world and is in charge of his father's company. Nice choice."

"How the hell do you know that, Colonel?" Freddy asked him.

"You aren't the only ones who grew up on comic books."

Faith chuckled, "Giving them too much credit, Sharp. They haven't grown up yet."

* * *

"Somebody's hooked." She smiled as Sharp sat next to her. Faith took a shower and decided to watch as some of the pilots were doing their evening flight training.

"I had fun. So did you, I could hear it in your voice."

He nodded, "I wouldn't be one of the best pilots in the world if I didn't like what I do. You know, you aren't actually supposed to be out here."

"Really?"

He nodded, "Not without an escort. Luckily for you, I spotted you before the MPs did."

Faith chuckled, "Spotted me or came looking for me?"

Sharp took a breath, "Maybe a bit of both, I guess. Don't ask me why."

"Okay." Faith smiled and turned her attention back to the planes.

They sat in comfortable silence for while before he looked at her, "If there was one thing you could do before the world ends, what would it be?"

"I'd ask my mom why she abandoned us. I get that her relationship with my dad had problems, I was there, but she just left us. Grace didn't deserve that."

Sharp nodded, "Neither did you."

Faith chuckled, "How would you know that? I mean, you don't know me that well, maybe I'm a huge bitch."

"I highly doubt that. The way you interact with your team and your sister tosses that idea out the window. You look out for all of them. I saw you with Rockhound earlier." Faith smiled, he had a point. She spent half her time making sure that they were all okay, even if she wasn't. "As much as you love them, they all love you back. From where I'm sitting, your mother is an idiot."

Faith felt like her heart was gonna beat out of her chest at the look he gave her. "So is your ex-wife."

He laughed, "Na, not an idiot. She ah… she didn't realize what she signed up for and I… I didn't understand how she felt. There was enough blame to go around, trust me."

She nodded, "What about your daughters?"

"I get to see them when I'm not working. My ex got remarried but they don't live too far from here. Ella's just starting to fully understand but Clare gets it. She wants to be a pilot when she grows up… if she gets a chance to grow up."

Faith touched his forearm, "You'll make sure she does. We all will."

Sharp smiled, "I guess we will. I just gotta have faith. No pun intended."

She laughed, "Do you know how many times I've heard that? Millions."

The pilot chuckled, "That doesn't surprise me one bit. Not with your bunch."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, Colonel?"

He looked at her, "They're fun. I've been paying attention and when you guys aren't up to your eyeballs in training or working on the 'dillos, you guys have fun."

Faith smiled, "Yea, yea. What do you do for fun? And don't say 'fly'." The smirk on his face told her that was exactly what he was thinking.

"I'm normal. I love spending time with my kids and watching movies and football."

She smiled, "That sounds like fun times to me."

He chuckled, "Come on, it's getting dark and I really don't want to get shot."

Faith looked at him, "They wouldn't."

Sharp laughed, "No… but the look on your face was priceless."

She gave him a little push but he caught her hand against his chest. She could feel his heart beating, it was going a thousand miles an hour. Faith looked up and those intense blue eyes drove all coherent thought from her mind. Instead of pushing her away, Sharp pulled her closer, "Tell me to back off." Faith had to remind herself to breathe before she decided to go for it and kissed him. Sharp shocked the hell out of Faith when he kissed her back. His arm wrapped around her and his lips parted.

It only lasted a few seconds but the taste of him, coffee and Will, was gonna be seared into her brain for the rest of her life. "We should head back."

Faith nodded, "Yea."

* * *

She couldn't sleep. After tossing and turning for an hour and a half, she decided to do some work. The rig was almost done and Faith figured that she as long as she was awake, she might as well finish it.

Faith didn't even need to think about what she was doing, she was on autopilot. Ha… autopilot. That errant thought brought a whole bunch of other thoughts with it. Why here? Why now? She likes Sharp. More than likes him, if she's being honest with herself, but there wasn't much they could do about it. They've got a planet to save.

"What are you doing up?"

She smiled at her dad, "Couldn't sleep. What are you doing up?" Harry chuckled as he handed her the wrench she was about to grab.

"Thinkin'. Can I ask you something, Fai?" She nodded. "What's your take on Grace and AJ?"

Faith took a breath, "I think that love comes from all over the place. If you find it then you find it. Grace is young in age but she's more mature than any other nineteen year old you'll meet. I went to school with some doozies. AJ is AJ. He's like you… hardheaded and stubborn as hell but he loves her. You know she's the only reason he agreed to this. Six billion people on this planet and he's fighting for Grace." The look Harry gave her told Faith that he didn't know. "Dad." He looked at her. "Grace is an adult who grew up surrounded by a bunch of guys who taught her to stand up for herself and go for what she wants out of life. She loves AJ. We all do. If you keep pushing, he'll leave and she'll go with him. I don't know about you but I can't watch another member of our family just… walk away."

"Ah, Faith." He pulled her into a hug. She was sure that her father didn't think about what would happen if Grace left with AJ.

"Just let them be, dad. You should see them together, it's the sweetest thing in the world."

He chuckled, "You really think it's alright?"

Faith nodded, "I would've pulled the shotgun on him myself if I didn't."

"I'll try to keep an open mind but I'm not making any promises."

* * *

She fixed it. She knew she would but she thought it would take a few more days. Oscar decided to bust her chops a little, "Is that a smile on Faith's face?"

Everyone looked at her as she sat at the table, "The rig is finished. All other efforts have been noted and you're welcome." She gave earned chuckles from the guys, she even saw Sharp smile.

"Is that what you and Harry were doing last night?" her best buddy asked.

She nodded at him, "Yep. Had some stuff on my mind. You probably shouldn't eat that?"

Freddy looked at her, "Why?"

Watts looked at him, "Because you guys are hitting the treadmills today. Medical needs to get a baseline on you for when you're stressed out and working hard."

"They're gonna hook you up to monitors while you run," Sharp told them. "I'm not gonna lie, it _sucks_."

Oscar laughed, "That's scarier than yesterday."

Faith smiled, "Only because you idiots never work out."

"We'll remember you said that, monkey."

Faith shrugged at Chick, "Go ahead. It's true." Faith wasn't a health nut but she was a girl who's job required her to be in shape so she worked out a few times a week. "You guys are gonna watch the torture, aren't you?"

The flight teams smiled and Watts nodded, "Of course we will."


	4. Chapter 4

Faith's whole body hurt. Between her lack of sleep, the torture on the treadmills and working on the 'dillos, she was exhausted and sore. The shower she just took helped but she needed sleep. Of course, there was a knock on the door. "What?"

AJ chuckled, "Testy are we? I need to talk to you." No good ever comes out of a conversation that starts with that sentence.

"Come on in." He sat on the empty bed and looked at her as Faith sat on her own bed, "Well?"

"I want to propose to Grace. I've had the ring for a month but I… I want to do it sooner rather than later."

Faith smiled, "You ask dad?"

AJ took a breath, "Not yet, I wanna know what you think, first."

"How long have we known each other, man?"

He chuckled, "Almost all our lives."

She nodded, "I love you, AJ, you're already my little brother. As long as she's happy, so am I. My advice is to ask Grace, then tell dad. If he gives you any grief over it, tell him I gave you my blessing."

He jumped up and pulled her into a hug, "You're the best, you know that, right?"

"Yes, I do know that. Now, go away, I'm sleepy."

He kissed her temple, "I love you too, Faith." She smiled as he bounded out of the room. Harry is gonna flip the hell out. Faith didn't want to start drama but she knew he'd say no just on principle and the last thing they needed was AJ trying to prove himself worthy on this mission. Faith didn't think about it too much, she was too tired.

She climbed into bed and was asleep in as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

"Neil Armstrong, 1969, bouncing on the moon. He's bouncing because there's less gravity up there than on Earth. This will be similar to the asteroid. So, watch it. Something gets launched off that asteroid with enough force, it's gonna keep on going, right into outer space." Watts was teaching them how to use the suits that they'd be wearing on the asteroid. Faith was giddy. It's not every day you get to wear next generation spacesuits. Of course, Rockhound Junior –Oscar- wasn't paying attention.

"What is the deal? Is it just me, or is Watts really hot?" the blonde whispered to Bear.

Their big friend nodded, "Yeah." Faith rolled her eyes as they continued to chat and turned her attention back to the other woman going on this trip.

"So we have these new generation suits with directional accelerant thrusters. You won't bounce like Neil Armstrong. Bear!" Watts yelled.

His head snapped to look at her, "Yes?"

"Do we have a problem?" the female pilot asked.

Papa Bear was in trouble now. "No."

Watts stepped closer to him, "'Cause I'm trying to describe to you how these DATs keep your ass on the ground, so that if I were to kick you in the balls, and you don't know how to work them, what happens to you?"

"I'd float away," he told her. Faith was doing her damnedest not to laugh but it wasn't easy to see her mountain of a friend getting called out by this tiny woman. Watts was Faith's new hero for sure.

The pilot looked at Bear, "Yeah."

"When do we start training for _that_?"

Faith rolled her eyes, "Seriously, Rock?" He shrugged.

Watts sent him a glare, "Faith, gentlemen, I'll give you thirty seconds to put your helmets on before the oxygen is sucked from this room and you'll know what it's like to be in space."

Faith quickly donned her helmet before looking around. The guys didn't seem to have a problem with this task.

"Well, hello zero gravity," Max muttered. She chuckled at his statement as the feeling of weightlessness washed over her. Faith bounced around for a minute like the guys did before she got to work using her DAT to put herself upright and on the ground.

"Faith figured it out," Harry told the others.

She looked at her dad, "It's not like Watts didn't just explain it. Too bad some of you were too busy checking her out." She looked at Oscar when she said it.

He chuckled, "Not apologizing. She's hot."

"She can hear you," came Tucker's voice over the intercom.

Faith chuckled, "I don't think you wanna mess with Watts, Os. She might hurt you."

Chick laughed as he landed next to her, "Might? That woman would break him like a toothpick. He can't handle none of that." They all laughed.

"What a way to go, though," Rock said to them.

Faith rolled her eyes, "I'm gonna pretend I can't hear you."

The perv chuckled, "Oh, please. You telling us that you don't check out any of the guys?"

She felt herself blush and was grateful for the helmet that mostly hid her face. "I look but I don't talk about it. I got plenty, let me tell you about…"

"NO!" Oscar, Rock, Freddy and Harry all said at the same time.

She chuckled, "See. If you don't to hear me talk about men, stop talking about Watts. I'm not helping you if she decided to kick your asses. Hell, all the crap I put up with from ya'll, I'd probably help her."

Chick laughed, "She makes a good point. Now, let's get to work."

One by one, they landed on the ground and used the suits to keep themselves there. They walked around and even floated a little before using the DATs to land. They'd been in there for a few hours when Watts warned them that they were opening the door. Everyone was solidly on the ground when the oxygen came back.

"You did better than we thought. No offense," Davis said as the door opened.

Harry chuckled, "None taken, Davis."

They were instructed on how to take the suits off and allowed some time to get chow. Faith decided to head for the armadillos. She was sitting on the catwalk above them when someone walked up behind her.

"You shouldn't skip meals. The doctors don't like it."

She chuckled, "You come up here to tell me that?"

Sharp sat down next to her and handed her a granola bar, "Maybe I wanted to see you."

She shook her head and smiled, "Really?"

He nodded, "Really. It's not like I can ask you out. I would if they didn't have us all trapped in here."

Faith smiled, "What would we do?"

Sharp shook his head, "Not telling you. I'll have to save it for when we get back."

"You're that confident that I'd say yes?"

He chuckled, "Yes I am, you can't even pretend that you wouldn't, the smile on your face gives you away."

She rolled her eyes, "Yea, yea. Guilty. Can't really blame me, though. I mean, you're all… you know." Attractive, intelligent, dedicated, cool as hell… the list goes on.

He scratched the back of his head, "Not really. I uhh… I don't date a lot."

"You aren't the only one. Work?" she asked even though she knew the answer.

He nodded, "Can I ask you a question… that's not this one?"

She smiled, "Sure. Ask me anything you want."

"What's your favorite movie?" he asked her.

Faith laughed, "That's your question? I thought you were gonna give me a hard one, like the meaning of life or something."

"If you want to tell me your thoughts on that, I'm all ears but… I do want to know the answer to my question," Sharp told her with a nudge.

Faith rolled her eyes. "You're gonna laugh. My favorite movie is… 2001: A Space Odyssey. I know, I know."

Just like she thought he would, Sharp laughed. "That's a good movie, Faith. I never would've guessed. '_I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that._'"

She chuckled, "_'What's the problem?_'"

Sharp looked at her, "_'I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do._'"

"_'What are you talking about, HAL?_'" she looked at Sharp.

"_'This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.'_ I'm so glad that we have control over our computers."

Faith nodded, "Yea, too much at stake to have a HAL on our hands. So, what about your favorite movie?"

"Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."

Faith smiled, "Oh, that's a good one. I was expecting Top Gun or something."

"Clichéd. I hate Top Gun. Don't tell anyone I said that, I got a reputation to protect," he whispered against her shoulder.

"Your secret is safe with me, Will."

He smiled, "I know. I gotta go, flight sim."

Faith nodded, "So, that's what you guys do when you aren't with us."

"Practice makes perfect. See you later?"

She smiled, "Only if you want to."

Sharp smiled back, "Then I'll see you later." He gave her a quick kiss before leaving the way he came.

"Oh, I'm not telling dad about that one," another voice said from behind her.

Faith closed her eyes, "Grace."

The younger Stamper chuckled, "You guys are so adorable."

"What am I doing?" Faith groaned.

"You like him. You really like him, nothing wrong with that. The feeling is obviously mutual." Grace sat down next to her, "Faith, I've watched you take care of everybody but yourself. For once, don't worry about what anybody thinks and do what you want."

"Isn't that how your boyfriend ended up getting chased around the rig by Harry with a shotgun?"

Grace laughed, "You have a point. Why don't you just hang out like you've been doing? If it's something, you'll know and if it's not, you'll know that too. Worry about dad later."

"You really think this will be okay?"she asked her little sister.

Grace nodded, "I think that love comes from all over the place. If you find it then you find it."

Faith looked at her, "Dad told you what I said?"

Grace nodded, "Yep. He said you convinced him to have an open mind. Take some of your own advice. You're always making sure that I'm happy, you should give it a try."

"This isn't… I'm not actually sure what this is. Or how to go about it. I mean, what if I like... fall in love with him and one of us dies?"

Grace smiled, "Figuring it out is the fun part. You taught me that. Come on, the guys are here and I doubt we want to talk about this in front of them." Grace was right about that. The two sisters made their way down the steps and got to work.

* * *

"You guys have any plans for the rest of the night?" Faith, Grace, AJ, Freddy, Oscar, Rock, Bear and Max all shook their heads at Tucker. He smirked, "Good, come with me." He led them through the building and into a conference room; Watts met them there.

"What's going on?" Grace asked.

"Impromptu movie night," Tucker told them. Sharp and Davis walked in from behind them with drinks and junk food. The guys started naming movies but Sharp shook his head and Faith knew what movie it was.

"2001: A Space Odyssey?"

He nodded, "It was easy to track down around here. I can't tell you how many people had a copy."

"Isn't that your favorite movie, Faith?" Freddy asked. She knew what he was up to.

"Yea, Freddy. Mine and half of NASA's, it's a space movie," Faith said.

"It's my favorite too… this and Star Wars," Tucker told them.

She smiled, "Which one?"

The pilot chuckled, "Return of the Jedi."

Oscar shook his head, "Empire Strikes Back."

Grace looked at her, "Oh no. Here they go." Tucker, Oscar, Freddy and Max went into a conversation about Star Wars while the others got settled to watch the movie.

"Thanks for this," she whispered as she sat next to Sharp.

He smiled, "You're welcome." Grace told the guys to shut up and watch the movie.

"This ain't over, Tucker," Oscar declared.

The pilot smiled at Oscar, "Bring it on… Later."

* * *

"How'd you pull that off?" she asked Sharp.

He smiled, "I asked Truman."

She shook her head, "Of course you did. I think we all needed the reprieve."

He nodded, "Maybe I just needed a reason to sit next to you for a few hours without your dad looking over our shoulders."

"Ah, Harry… tries." The crazy thing about all this was that Harry was finally given time to think about where they were as a family and apparently, he didn't like what he saw. Faith was more of an adult than he was and Grace deferred to her instead of him. "After my mom left… I guess he didn't know what to do with girls. Didn't help that me and Grace are so… different. She's a girly girl and I'm one of the guys."

"I don't believe you."

Faith chuckled, "What?"

He looked at her, "You're gorgeous. I have a hard time believing that you're just one of the guys when you aren't working."

"I can be a girl but nowhere near as much as Grace, I'll give you that one." She paused for a second, "You think I'm gorgeous?"

He smiled, "You are. You're smart and you care about people too, which only makes you more beautiful." Faith felt butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. It's not like she's never been in a relationship before but this was different. There was an edge to it, no doubt the ticking clock. She looked at her boots. "Don't do that. Don't hide." He put his hand on her chin forced her to look at him, "You're beautiful. It's almost unfair that you've been hiding on that rig for so long." Was that what she was doing? There was a very big part of her that knew he was right.

Faith had the chance to do other things but she picked the job she loved. It wasn't a bad thing, just easy. "I wish we met before this."

He chuckled, "Me too but here we are." Faith looked up and found herself staring into his eyes. Sharp stepped closer to her and pulled her into a kiss. Faith moved her hands into his hair, which was soft under her fingers.

There was a soft knock at her door. She sighed against his lips, "It's Grace." They stepped away from the door and Faith opened it, "Yea, Gracie?"

Her sister giggled, "I didn't mean to interrupt but I need to talk to my sister."

Sharp nodded, "Yes, ma'am." Faith chuckled as he kissed her with a gentleness that she didn't know he had. "Goodnight, ladies. Do me a favor and get some rest, Faith."

"I'll try. Goodnight, Will." She looked at Grace, "Don't say anything."

The younger Stamper chuckled, "But, _Faith_… movie night was the sweetest thing ever."

She shook her head, "You came in here just to mess with me, didn't you?"

"Yep. I didn't know he was here… not surprised though. Maybe you'll come back from the asteroid and have some cute little blue-eyed babies."

Faith rolled her eyes, "We barely know each other and you're already planning the wedding and naming the children?"

"You know more about him than some of the guys you've gone out with. Don't tell me you don't." Faith opened her mouth to deny but she closed it again when she realized that her sister was right.

"Shut up, Gracie."

* * *

Faith glanced at the clock; she had no idea why she was awake at quarter to four in the morning. Everyone else would sleep for a few more hours before they got any work done. Faith figured that if she was up this early, she might as well do something. Faith slept in her workout shorts and sports bra, she pulled the gray NASA t-shirt over her head and slid her feet into her sneakers. She grabbed her ID tag and left her room. Now, if she only knew where she was going.

Faith walked around a bit before she heard Tucker call her name. "Where are you off too?"

The oil driller shrugged, "No clue. Thought I might go for a run but I have no idea where I'm allowed to go."

The tall pilot chuckled, "You can run with us if you want."

"Who is this us you speak of, Tucker?"

He smiled, "Flight crew. All six of us."

Faith nodded, "I'm in, lead on." They weaved their way through the building before coming up on the others outside one of the hangers, stretching.

"We have a seventh this morning," Tucker alerted the others.

She shook her head, "If it's alright with all of you. I've been up since three… can't sleep."

"You and everyone else. I haven't sleep well since they told us," Gruber said to her.

Watts nodded, "Kinda hard to sleep when the world is counting on you not to screw up."

Faith looked at them, "Please don't tell me you're nervous… I mean, this _is_ what you guys do for a living."

"Doesn't mean we don't worry about it. If it makes you feel better, your team is doing pretty good for a bunch of civilians that got pulled off the street and told the world was gonna end. No offense, but I had my doubts." That was the most she ever heard Halsey say.

"We'll try not to disappoint but if you're all worried, what kinda hope does my team have?" Faith asked.

"Fear is healthy, kid," the Independence's Air Force Pilot told her.

She looked at Davis, "Well, no wonder I passed the physical. I'm terrified."

They all laughed and Davis shook his head, "Nothing against your team, Stamper, but you got those boys beat by miles. I figure as long as you can keep Independence focused and your dad does the same with Freedom, we have a chance."

"That's a lot you're resting on my shoulders, Colonel. What if I'm not up to it?"

Tucker nudged her, "Have some faith, Faith." She felt pride swell up in her chest, these men and Watts, thought she could do this.

Faith ultimately rolled her eyes at his joke, "Hardy har har. I've heard that one already. Hell, Sharp beat you to it a few days ago. Now, are we talking or running?"

Tucker chuckled, "Running. Just don't get too carried away. Truman can replace us on this mission if we get hurt but he can't replace you."

Faith looked at Sharp, "Is that true?"

The de facto team leader nodded, "There's a list of pilots and munitions specialists to take over if something happens to one of us but there is only one engineer going on this trip. You."

Faith doesn't know why that didn't register with her before. She shook the thought out of her head as the whole group took off. They weren't going fast, in a way, it seemed like they just needed to do something normal. She stayed with Watts, behind the colonels but ahead of everyone else, as the group ran around the large hanger closest to the flight line. She liked this group; they were like a more serious version of her team. Faith doesn't know how long they were out there but Tucker cracked jokes the whole time. She almost tripped when she saw Halsey smile; she didn't know he had it in him.


	5. Chapter 5

"Yay… the pool." Faith chuckled at Rock's flat delivery; he really doesn't like this part.

"Scared of the water, Rockhound?" came Bear's gentle, yet booming, voice.

Rock looked at the big guy, "No… I'm not scared of anything."

"Except getting your dick chopped off," AJ mumbled.

Oscar nodded, "Angry dads with shotguns."

Freddy chuckled, "Sexual harassment lawsuits."

Faith shook her head, "Women who won't fuck with him." That earned a laugh.

Rockhound looked at her, "Hey now, you could always take yourself off the list."

"Not even if the world was ending, Rock… oh wait, it kinda is," she told him.

He gave her a look, "It's okay, I know your tastes are a little younger than me and more clean cut."

Harry looked at her, "Who's he talking about?"

Faith took a breath, "Nobody, dad."

Freddy and AJ snickered behind her, "Uh huh."

She turned and looked at them, "Frosty and Freddy, do you really want me to start talking. The things I know… the stories I could tell. "

They both went silent and Bear laughed, his baritone voice was soothing even when he was giving the boys grief, "Now, ya'll know better than to mess with Faith. Especially you, AJ. We all know Gracie don't go for that."

Oscar laughed, "Whipped." Faith glared at him and he closed his mouth.

Freddy laughed, "She's not even your girl and she shut you up. Who's really whipped?" Faith looked at her best friend.

Max shook his head, "Dude, she's gonna hurt ya."

Faith nodded, "Can we get to work now, guys?" This was the last underwater simulation they were doing as a whole group. The plan was to split them into their teams for the last week of training, Faith couldn't wait.

* * *

"Stamper and Stamper, you're with me. Everyone else, you're done for the day." Faith glanced at her dad before they followed Truman from the room. They walked down the hall and entered a conference room where Quincy, Kimsey, Flight Director Clarke and the flight teams were sitting. Faith sat next Tucker while Harry sat next to Watts.

"So, we need to pick the teams. I'm sure we all have some ideas about who should go where," Truman told the group.

Clarke nodded, "Since we're doubled up, the teams need to be even."

Faith shook her head, "You guys really do love making things difficult. Me, AJ, Freddy, Oscar and Bear on Independence. Harry, Rock, Chick and Max on Freedom. Easy."

They all looked at her, Kimsey was the first to speak, "How did you come up with that, Miss Stamper?"

Faith shrugged, "Process of elimination. Me and dad are team leaders, AJ and Max run the 'dillos, Oscar and Rock are the geologists. Since I have more control over AJ than Harry does and he works best with Oscar, they're both with me. Freddy is my right hand man, same goes for Chick with Harry. Bear is the odd man out but I figured dad wouldn't want us kids up there without adult supervision. Like I said, easy."

Clarke and Truman shared a look before the head of NASA looked at her father, "Thoughts?"

The veteran driller nodded, "I think she covered it. The teams are as even as possible and they work well together."

Tucker chuckled, "Like Stamper Oil verses Stamper Oil two-point-oh. The old school verse the new."

Faith nodded, he was essentially right. Truman took a breath, "Well, I guess we're done, that's all I needed. Get outta here and get some rest."

Sharp nudged her as she passed him, so she slowed her steps to wait for him. "I've never seen the General with that look on his face before."

She smiled, "It's a gift. He's lucky that I'm being nice. I don't like him any more than he likes me."

"What's not to like?" Sharp whispered.

Faith felt herself blush, "Careful, Colonel, flattery will get you everywhere."

He chuckled, "I'll have to remember that. I wanna show you something… if you're up to it." She nodded and followed him through the building, outside and into another –older- building.

"Where are we?" Faith asked as she looked around.

"Building 30. It was built in '65 for the Gemini four mission." They went up a set of stairs to the third floor. "This is MOCR two, also known as the Apollo Mission Control Center." Faith took in the room. It was small compared to the other mission control room in the other building but so much seemed to happen here. This was where missions to the moon were monitored.

"What does MOCR mean?"

He smiled, "Mission Operation Control Rooms. It changed to mission control sometime in the seventies, I think. We were still using this place until 1992. It's been a historic landmark since '85 so they couldn't upgrade like they wanted to."

"Because of Apollo eleven?"

Sharp nodded, "Yep. Someone did her homework." She might have read a little bit from the books that Truman gave them. She didn't have to but she glimpsed at some of the history stuff.

Faith shrugged, "Everybody knows about Apollo eleven, we put a man on the moon."

She ran her fingers over the small plaque that said 'CAPCOM'. "I've manned that station before. Not in here, though."

Faith chuckled, "Really?"

"You'll all learn some of this tomorrow. CAPCOM means Capsule Communicator; call sign Houston, like in the movies. It's easier to have one station at mission control that talks with the crew. It's almost always another astronaut since we all understand each other. For long missions there's one for each shift."

"Big job?" she asked him.

"No bigger than the others but it can be. If everything goes how it's supposed to, it's pretty standard but for missions like Apollo thirteen... to be Houston during that mission is something I wouldn't wish on anyone. Don't get me started on the Challenger." He shook his head. Challenger was a shuttle that exploded in 1986 a minute and thirteen seconds after launching on what would've been the shuttle's tenth mission, killing all seven crew members. NASA grounded the shuttle program for two and a half years after that.

He sat in the chair and looked up at her. "You come over here a lot, don't you?" He seemed really comfortable in this place. Not like he was in the plane, but still.

Sharp smiled, "Depends on how you define a lot. I come over here when we have a difficult mission coming up. Helps me to remember those who came before us. Like the guys from Apollo thirteen… the general consensus is that they shouldn't have made it back but they did, despite the odds. They attribute their survival to the people who worked in this room for days on end to help bring them home. Maybe some of that luck will rub off on us."

"Maybe it already has." Faith ran her fingers along his jaw; he caught her hand in his and kissed her fingers.

"We should head back, it's getting late."

She nodded, "Yea. Wouldn't want to fall asleep in class, I doubt my instructor would like that very much."

Sharp chuckled as he stood, "You're too busy watching me to fall asleep. Besides, you need the info. I'll make astronauts outta all of you, even if it kills me."

"Might… we're all a bit stubborn."

He smiled and cupped her face, "So am I." His lips descended on hers, kissing her deeply. All the thoughts in her mind just vanished and everything became about this moment. The only thing that registered to Faith were his lips on hers, their bodies pressed against each other. If she could stay like this until the end of the world, she would.

When they finally pulled away from each other, there was something in his eyes, like he could see straight through to her soul and it took her breath away. "Faith," it came out almost like a prayer. Whatever this was, whatever they were, it had nothing to do with the planet's impending doom. If nothing else, the only thing being here did was put them in the same place. She was born less than an hour away from this building and yet she'd never met this man in all the time she spends in Texas. Maybe this whole thing was just fate's way of forcing them into each others lives. She really hates it when Grace is right.

* * *

"What's wrong?" her sister asked.

She shook her head, "Just let me in." Grace chuckled and moved out of the way.

AJ was sitting on the bed, "'Sup with you?" Faith took a breath and looked at her sister.

Grace smirked, "Oh shit… you're in deep."

Faith nodded, "I don't know what happened. We were over in Building 30 and we were making out and he looked at me and I swear I felt… I don't know what but it hit me like a two by four. This feeling in my chest like..."

"Like you love Sharp?"

She glanced at AJ, "Don't… just don't. I've known him for a week. I mean… I don't even know what I mean." She sat on the empty bed and took a breath. Grace opened her mouth to say something but AJ stopped her.

"Faith, look at me," her future brother-in-law ordered. Usually, she would just glare at him if he said that to her but she didn't have it in her. She looked at the man who wanted to marry her sister. "You guys hang out a lot. I noticed, Freddy and Rock have too. You want to know what we see?" Did she really? Faith nodded. "You light up when he's around. You're still focused and dedicated but there's something else there, something that none of us have seen since your mom left; you're happy. Not happy-for-everyone-else-happy but actually happy. You love him and it scares the shit outta you, it's supposed to. So what it's only been a week, I knew I loved Grace on day two. Stop worrying about what people might say, don't worry about how long you've known each other and just go with it. We don't know what this mission will bring and I plan to not have any regrets when I strap into that shuttle."

"That's the most eloquent thing I think I've ever heard you say."

He shrugged, "It's true. Now, go get some sleep because we got astronaut one-oh-one with your boyfriend in the morning."

Faith groaned, "We're not... well, we kinda are, huh?"

Grace nodded, "Yep."

AJ chuckled, "You'll be fine once you decide not to worry about it."

"Yea, yea. You know, if you showed some of this wisdom around Harry, he might not give you such a hard time," she told the not-so-hotheaded hothead.

Grace chuckled, "I don't know if everyone could handle the AJ I get to see all the time." Faith chuckled; it was true. Behind the devil may care attitude, AJ had a big heart and that's why Grace loved him so damn much.

"I only use it on important stuff," AJ told her.

She smiled, "Like your girlfriend's sister when she's freaking out about a guy?"

He looked at her, "More like when my friend is freaking out about her feelings about a guy."

"And here I thought I was the one looking out for you," Faith told him.

"You are. Where do you think we got it from?" her sister asked.

She smiled at Grace, "I better get out of here before we get all sappy."

AJ chuckled, "Wouldn't want that. 'Night, Faith." He gave her a hug and kissed her head before releasing her to Grace, "Love you."

She smiled, "Love you too, Frosty."

"You picked good… despite what dad thinks," Faith whispered.

Grace chuckled, "So did you. Get some sleep. I love you."

She held her sister tight, "Love you more."

* * *

Will was right, she was too aware of him to do anything but pay attention. At least she wasn't the only one. They had a week until launch and that meant that they needed to get everything done, including understand a few years worth of information. Of course, Harry noticed that something was up with her. After lunch, he pulled her aside.

"You okay? You're quiet today."

She nodded, "I got a lot on my mind."

He looked at her, "You sure?"

Faith smiled, "I'm okay, dad, really."

Her father kissed her temple, "If you say so. I know I haven't been the best dad to you and Grace but I hope that you'll tell me if something's bothering you."

The engineer nodded, "You're a good dad. You love us and you did everything you could to take care of us. It's not your fault that mom split."

"You sure about that?"

She nodded, "She could've done a lot of things, she ran away. That was her choice. She missed out, Grace is amazing and I'm pretty kickass too. Now, come on. If we do this right, the 'dillos will be finished today."

He chuckled, "And here I thought I was the boss."

Faith smirked, "That's what me and Grace let you think. You can't run the company without us."

"About that…" She raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue. "I'm leaving half my shares to you and half to Grace if I don't make it back. Since you already own forty percent of it, that would make you the majority owner of Stamper Oil. You get the business, the rig, the property in Galveston, my personal assets."

She looked at him, "Dad…"

He shook his head, "The company can run without me but not without you or Grace. I was gonna give it to you in a couple years anyway."

"What? You didn't even want me to stay on the rig… Now you're telling me that you were gonna just give me Stamper Oil? Are you planning to die on me?" She barely noticed that everyone was listening to them.

He nodded, "I didn't want you to stay because I didn't want to hold you back. Watching you this past week, Faith… I realized that I never actually watched you work. I couldn't be prouder of you if I tried. This is in your blood as much as it's in mine. And no, I'm not planning to die, just making sure you girls are covered if I do."

Faith took a breath, "And what if I decide to do something else or I die?"

"Still your company. If you aren't here, Grace gets my shares and yours."

"Can't talk you out of it, can I?" she asked, already knowing his answer.

Harry shook his head, "Nope. I updated my will already."

She nodded, "I don't like this."

He chuckled, "That's because you're smarter than me. Now, we got work to do, boss."

* * *

After getting the armadillos finished, Faith went back to her room and crashed. Her brain and body were completely drained. The next day, they took the large vehicles out to the testing sight for the first half of the day. After lunch, they did more DAT training with Tucker and Watts. Faith couldn't help but notice the missing colonels, one in particular.

That night, she took a quick shower and was about to climb into bed when there was a knock on her door. Not light enough to be Grace but not loud enough to be one of the guys, that left her with one person. She opened the door and a huge smile broke out on her face, "Hi."

"Can I come in?" She nodded and moved out of the way. The second she closed the door, she found herself pressed against it. Sharp kissed her like a man stranded in the desert who just found water. When they broke apart to breathe, he rested his forehead against hers. "Missed you today."

She chuckled, "I can see that. What were you up to?"

He smiled, "Flight sims in the morning and a meeting with Kimsey while you guys were doing DAT."

"All that and you still had time to miss me."

The pilot offered up a tired smile, "Of course I did." He looked exhausted, it was close to midnight but he still stopped to see her.

"Will, you look like you could use a few hours of sleep."

He chuckled, "That your way of saying I look like crap?"

Faith nodded, "I was trying to be nice but yea. What's wrong?"

He closed his eyes and ran his hand over his face, "It's… If I tell you, you can't say anything. Not to your dad, your sister or the team. I'm not even supposed to tell you and I could get grounded, tossed in the brig and kicked out the Air Force if Kimsey found out that I said something."

Faith looked at him, "You don't have to tell me. Last thing I would want to do is get you into any trouble."

Sharp chuckled, "I want to tell you. You just have to promise, it stays right here." He was trusting her with something big, it made her smile.

"I promise, it stays right here," she promised.

"We have a fail-safe. I don't think it'll work but I have orders to protect a surface detonation if the President orders the nuke to be remotely detonated. With deadly force if necessary. Kimsey called it Secondary Protocol."

"How?" If something like that could work, they wouldn't be going on this trip in the first place. And how the hell did Kimsey, the Air Force or anyone else expect her team to just stand back and let the bomb go off?

He took a breath, "Weapon on the shuttle. I don't… I really don't want to pull a gun on your family."

Faith placed her hands on either side of his face, "If something like that happens, you'll do the right thing."

"How can you be so sure?"

Faith placed a soft kiss on his lips, "Because you're a good person, Will."

He smirked, "How do you know that? We haven't known each other that long." He jokingly tossed her argument back at her and she smiled.

"I..." She took a breath, "I know enough. Come on, I'm going to bed and so are you. Boots off."

He gave her a look before he moved to do what she told him. "There aren't a lot of people who can get away with telling me what to do. I like it."

Faith chuckled and pulled her sweatshirt off, "Good to know."

She heard him suck in a breath, "'If you're going through hell, keep going.' Churchill?" She nodded as he ran his hand along the quote that was tattooed on her side years ago. "That sounds like you."

After stripping out of his jumpsuit and grabbing the pillow off the other bed, he slid into bed with her. Will pulled her into his arms and for the first time since she got to the space center, she relaxed. This should be awkward but it wasn't, Faith was more comfortable than she expected to be. There was something extremely personal to her about sleeping next to someone. Faith had a firm belief that any idiot who hit puberty can have sex but to trust someone to be there when you're at your most vulnerable was something that was on a whole different level.

He kissed the top of her head, "Goodnight, beautiful."

She kissed his neck, "Goodnight."


	6. Chapter 6

AN: There is a reason for the M rating.

* * *

"Now, let's keep the laughter to a minimum. I know this is not to scale." Faith was sitting between Will and Freddy in a briefing room in mission control. She could feel the eyes on her as they waited for Truman to get started.

"Ignore 'em," Will whispered.

She looked at him and smiled, "That what you do?" He nodded as her friend nudged her, Truman pulled what looked like toy shuttles out, she smiled but stopped herself from laughing.

The director looked at them, "Both shuttles will take off at 6:30pm. Now, sixty-seven minutes later, you're gonna dock with the Russian Space Station to meet cosmonaut Colonel Andropov, who will refuel the shuttles with liquid Oh-two, that's your fuel, then you'll release and take a sixty hour trip toward the moon. Now we only have one shot of landing on this rock, and that's precisely when the asteroid passes by the moon. You'll then use lunar gravity and burn your thrusters, slingshotting you around the moon, coming up behind the asteroid. You'll be upward of eleven G's."

"Yeah, I remember this one. It's where the, uh, the coyote sat his ass down in a slingshot then he strapped himself to an Acme rocket. Is that… is that what we're doin' here?"

She looked down the table at the geologist as her dad whispered, "Rockhound."

"No, no, really, because it didn't work out too well for the coyote, Harry." Rock had a point.

Freddy took a breath, "Come on, Rock. The math's good. You know that as well as I do." Faith nodded, Rockhound ran the numbers himself a few times, so has Freddy and so has she.

Truman smirked, "Well, actually, we have a lot better rockets than the coyote." That earned a few snickers from the group.

"Now, when you've finished your Roadrunner thrust move, you'll be moving at 22,500 miles per hour. Coming around the asteroid, where we're hoping that the tail debris will be cleared by the moon's gravity, and you'll land, right here." Truman pointed to two unimpressive looking spots in the back of the asteroid model.

Clarke looked at them, "We got separate landing sites for each team, softest parts of the rock as we can figure. At NASA, we don't take chances, we double up on everything. First team to eight hundred feet wins." She shared a look with her dad as Clarke continued. "This rock is big, it's dense, it has some gravity so you can walk around but use your thrusters so you can work easier."

"Ok, Mister Truman, let's say that we actually do land on this. What's it gonna be like up there?" Leave it to Oscar to ask that question.

Truman looked at him, "Two hundred degrees in the sunlight, minus two hundred in the shade, canyons of razor-sharp rock, unpredictable gravitational conditions, unexpected eruptions, things like that."

Oscar nodded, "Okay, so the scariest environment imaginable. Thanks. That's all you gotta say, scariest environment imaginable." If she wasn't already scared, she sure as hell was now. They were three days from launch and with each passing moment, it became more real than it was the moment before.

"So you drill, you drop the nuke, and you leave. Now, here's the key: you're gonna remote-detonate the bomb... before the asteroid passes this plane…" Truman nodded at Quincy, who played a simulation of the asteroid. "…Zero Barrier. You do that, and the remaining pieces of rock should be deflected enough to pass right by us. Now, if the bomb explodes after Zero Barrier..." The video showed the asteroid fragments hitting the Earth. "…Game's over. That's all I got for you. You guys have some armadillo training on deck for the rest of the day." Everyone nodded at Truman and started leaving the room.

Tucker chuckled, "You ready to school the old guys, Faith?"

Before she could say anything, Max shook his head, "You kids don't have a chance."

"You say that now, Max, just wait," AJ said from behind her.

Chick shook his head, "I love you kids but you're just asking for trouble."

Rock nodded, "Yea… you _kids_ act like you're God's gift. You can't top us. We were drilling when you were all still babies."

Faith rolled her eyes, "Need I remind you that I am a Stamper, this is kinda our thing. You act like we don't know what we're doin' but we're here the same as you."

Rockhound laughed, "You'll never be on our level, Faith, no offense."

Faith laughed, "You know what, Rock, you're right. I'll never be on your level." Everyone looked at her and she smirked, "I'm the upgrade."

The room went silent before Tucker chuckled, "And that round goes to 'Keep the Faith' Stamper. Thanks for playing, gentleman."

* * *

"Harry, just sit back, relax. I'm gonna put on a free armadillo driving clinic." Faith rolled her eyes at the comment AJ made to her dad. They were out in the middle of the desert training on the 'dillos for the last time before they get packed up to go to Florida. Of course, AJ was driving like a maniac.

"How you feel about all this?" an increasingly familiar voice asked from over her shoulder.

She didn't turn to face Will but she smiled, "I think I always knew we were walking into hell and some of us aren't coming home but what Truman said today makes it more... real, I guess."

"Whoa, Harry! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Bear shouted at the vehicle. Faith, Chick, Will and the other pilots jumped out of the way.

"Idiot," Watts muttered.

Chick looked at her, "You would think that your dad would be able to stop him from doin' dumb shit, monkey."

Faith laughed, "Since when does AJ listen to dad?" She hit the button on her two-way radio, "We don't have time to fix it if you fuck up the gear, Frosty… don't go so fast."

The armadillo slowed down, "Happy, woman?"

Faith chuckled, "Immensely."

Chick looked at her, "How do you do that?"

She smiled, "AJ's not an idiot… he only acts like one because ya'll expect him to. He knows he better listen to me."

Will chuckled, "He's not the only one."

* * *

That's all I got for you guys. We have a few more days, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them." They all looked at Will as he finished the last class they were going to have before they left. When nobody asked anything, he let them go. Faith was about to leave the room when she noticed her dad pull Will aside.

"Wonder what that's about," Freddy uttered from over her shoulder.

She shrugged, "Who knows, Freedom stuff?" Faith was hoping it was about the mission but she knew it might not be. Not one to eavesdrop, she grabbed her friend's arm and pulled him out of the room.

"Are you ever gonna tell me what's going on? I mean, I thought I was your friend?"

Faith chuckled, "You're my best friend. And you already know what's up according to AJ. What is there left for me to say?"

He chuckled, "How about you're banging the pilot?"

"I'm not... I mean, we haven't…"

Freddy looked at her in disbelief, "You're kidding? Why not?"

She shrugged, "Exhaustion?"

He chuckled, "You don't believe that any more than I do. Don't tell me you're scared."

She shook her head, "I'm not. I… I didn't know what to think or feel about all of this and…"

"You don't want to muck it up with sex. If that's the case and you aren't sleeping with him, then that vibe you two have, the one you think I don't notice but I do, is the real thing. You love him." It wasn't a question so she didn't say anything. "You're worried."

"Aren't you?" she asked her friend.

Freddy shrugged, "Of course, but my worry isn't about the person I love and my father being in danger like yours is. Have you told him how you feel?" She shook her head. Freddy smiled, "You should."

"Freddy…"

He chuckled and held up a hand, "Faith, tell him… you might not get another chance."

* * *

"…Gracie grew up to become a full-blown hottie, you know?" That was on the top of her list of things she never wants to hear Rockhound say.

Faith and Freddy looked at each other before they followed the group. She was sure she knew what this was about but the guys calling Grace hot wasn't helping because her dad was getting more angry the more they kept talking. "Harry, she is fully hot. She is…" came from Max.

At the same time Rock said, "She's a babe."

Harry cut them both off, "Guys, okay, you're talking about my little girl, all right? I think I know who and what she is, okay?"

Oscar looked at him, "Harry, all we're sayin' is, we're talkin' about a kid who's comin' into her own right now. She's gettin' curious about her body, and she's exploring her sexuality. You know what?"

"Oscar," Harry tried to cut him off.

The blonde kept talking, "That's a natural thing."

Harry looked at him, "You are about five minutes older than Grace is. Why should I listen to you?"

Oscar shrugged, "I know what it feels like to have your hormones pullin' you in just a thousand different directions."

"No disrespect, man, but we all helped to raise her. So, in part, we all feel like a bunch of daddies here." Thank the maker for Bear.

Rock nodded, "That's true."

"I'll be damned if I worked all these years so my little girl can marry a roughneck. She's better than that. Better than all of us."

Faith took a breath and jumped into the conversation, "Than shouldn't you let her decide?" They all looked in her direction. "I mean, we're talking about the same AJ who used to run around the back yard with me when our moms hung out. The AJ who's loved Grace since he was five and she was one. AJ who would die in a heartbeat for her... for me... for you. I'm her sister but I raised that girl too and I gave them my blessing. Do you know how many people dream of a love like that?"

"It's different, Fai," her father said.

She nodded, "It's always different. That's life. It changes, people do to. You might not understand it but you don't have to, it's her life Harry, her heart. If AJ was a jerk, I would be right there with you but he's not and even if you don't want to admit it, you love him too." The look on his face told Faith that she was right.

"How'd you get so damn smart?"

"I grew up watching the men in this room… Well, everyone except Oscar, he's still a baby."

They all laughed when the man in question shouted, "Hey!"

"I don't know about ya'll but I'm gonna go congratulate my sister." Faith headed out the way she came in and the guys followed.

Chick smiled, "I can't believe she's gonna beat you to the altar, monkey."

Faith shrugged, "I'll get there one day... if we don't all get ourselves killed."

* * *

"Lucy, I'm home."

Will chuckled, "If anything, I'm Desi and you're Lucy."

She smiled, "You gonna let me in, Colonel?"

He nodded, "Of course. I gotta brighten up the place somehow."

She sat on his bed, "Happy to help." Will leaned against the door and looked at her. Faith smiled, "You're staring at me."

"You're beautiful. Can't help it," Will told her.

"Says the man with the otherworldly eyes."

He chuckled, "You think they're 'otherworldly'?"

Faith nodded, "Yes. They're very distracting."

He smiled as he walked towards her, "You wanna talk about distracting, look in a mirror." Then he kissed her.

Everything seemed to speed up and slow down at the same time. He had her pinned to bed and she didn't mind one bit. Will's mouth was hot and demanding, Faith slid her hands under his t-shirt to touch the warm skin there before she pulled the shirt over his head. "Will."

He pulled back, his blue eyes shining, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," it came out barely above a whisper. Just like that, he closed the space between them again, his lips on hers as he unzipped her jumpsuit. That started a frenzied rush to get each others clothes off. Every inch of her skin was screaming to be in contact with his, Faith had never been so turned on in her life. "Will." His mouth curved into a knowing smile as he stretched over her, his weight balanced on one arm, his other hand on her hip.

"Faith, look at me." Their eyes locked as he slid into her, it stole her breath away. Without wasting a second, he began moving, deep, hard. Faith was sure that she was gonna lose what was left of her mind. She instinctively rose to meet him, they found their rhythm and moved together.

She kissed his neck, his jaw and anywhere else she could reach as each move pushed them both closer the brink. "I love you, Faith." The words, whispered in her ear, sent her over the edge in free fall. She mumbled his name as her spine arched and her head fell back onto the bed. They moved harder and faster, Will's control was almost nonexistent. He pulled her into anther orgasm on the heels of the first, this time, his arm wrapped around her as he followed.

"I can't move," Faith muttered after their breathing slowed.

He chuckled, "Sorry."

She shook her head, "Don't be, I'm not." They rearranged themselves on the small bed, which wasn't easy, before they laid wrapped around each other.

"Sorry I didn't take my time… I just needed… you," he whispered against her shoulder. If he was expecting her to complain, he'll be waiting a long time.

"Don't ever apologize for that. I know I didn't really say it but… I love you too. I don't know what's gonna happen up there but I just wanted to say it. I need you to know."

Will chuckled, "I knew before you did. It's nice to hear the words, though."

"Then, I love you."

He kissed her head, "I love you too. Now sleep, you guys have underwater sims all day tomorrow."

* * *

"What's Kimsey doin' here?" Faith whispered to Tucker.

He glanced at the man in question, "Wants to have something to tell the President, I guess." She nodded and tried to ignore her annoyance at having the General looking over their shoulders. Quincy told them Kimsey's idea of a solution and even they weren't dumb enough to suggest shooting a hundred nuclear weapons.

"So, Independence will go first. Faith, you'll be leading the team from inside the command center," the director told the group.

Truman looked at her and she nodded, "Understood." She and the Freedom team followed Truman into the room that controls the simulation, Will, Watts and Davis were already there.

"You ready, kid?"

She nodded at her shuttle's pilot, "As I'll ever be."

Everything was going well until Harry opened his mouth. "Faith, he nee…"

She shook her head, "Harry, shut up."

The technician next her spoke up, "Okay, we're gonna trick 'em up. My computer will simulate a gas pocket at six hundred twenty-five feet and then hard ferrite at six thirty-five."

"I'm gonna drill some more. We're takin' her up," came AJ's voice over the headset.

Bear's voice was next, "I'm givin' it more torque right now."

She smiled, "All right, lookin' good, Papa Bear. Clamp it down and let's watch our time, Independence."

"You got it, boss lady. Is it just me, or is it cool that Faith is our boss?" Oscar asked the guys in the tank with him.

She chuckled at him, "We got work to do, Os, talk about me later."

"They're gonna blow the tranny," Harry muttered from behind her. Faith rolled her eyes, he has got to trust her.

"I can see that, Harry. Frosty, slow it down, man."

Her sister's fiance chuckled, "Take it easy, Faith… I got it."

She took a breath, "What you have is the fate of the world in your hands. You're at six hundred twenty feet. Your pipe is long. It won't kill us to drop the RPM's down to eight thousand for a minute so we don't blow the transmission. We got time."

"Yea, yea. I got it." He didn't like it but he did was she said and backed the RPM's back to eight thousand.

"His RPM's are good," Will told her from his seat at the console.

Faith nodded, "Good job, guys." Harry opened his mouth but she cut him off, "Shut up or leave. They have enough to worry about without you adding another voice to their heads. When your team is in the tank you can do what you want but I need you to be quiet so I can talk to my men."

Everyone looked at her before turning back to their tasks. Will smirked but didn't say anything. They ran the sim all the way to eight hundred feet before they switched out with the Freedom team. Faith closed her eyes, "Badass, girl."

She looked up at Bear, "You act like you don't already know."

He bumped fists with her, "Knowing and seeing are different, baby girl."

They all sat quietly and watched as the other team did their thing.

"Man, they're good," Oscar whispered.

She looked at her other little brother, "They've had decades of practice."

He chuckled, "You ever think you'll be that good?"

She smiled, "We are… that's why we're here. They may not want to admit it but we're just as good as they are."

* * *

"I want my men to have tomorrow night off." Harry, Truman, Will and Faith were walking through the building when her father uttered that phrase.

Truman looked at him, "What do you mean 'off'?"

Her father glanced at her, "I mean, off. Out of here. For at least ten hours. Then we'll go to Kennedy."

"Well, there's no possible way we can do that, Harry. There's a potentially huge security risk. What if they talk? What if they get hurt?" Truman asked.

Harry shook his head, "What if they're too burnt out to do the right thing? What if they get up there, and they forget what they're fighting for?"

Faith took a breath, "We're all ready to snap. It's not like we asked to be here, you brought us here."

Harry nodded, "For all we know, tomorrow night could be the last night any of us ever get to see Earth. I don't think it's too much to ask to let 'em spend it with their families."

Truman tried to dissuade Harry again, "Listen, there's no possible way we can do that."

Her father looked at Will, "You got family, Colonel?"

The pilot nodded, "Two girls."

"Wouldn't you like to spend tomorrow with your girls?" Will didn't have to say anything, the answer was written on his face clear as day. Harry looked at Truman, "I'm not askin' ya. I'm tellin' ya. Make this happen."

"You grew up with him?" She nodded at Truman's question. "God bless you."

Faith smiled, "He's just looking out for us. He's right… we should get out of this place for a while. Hell, I live forty minutes from here."

Will wasn't surprised but Truman was, "Really?"

She nodded, "Stamper Oil HQ is in Galveston. We aren't always on the rig."

* * *

AN: In the original draft of the movie, Harry was from Galveston and the story was supposed to span months but Deep Impact came out around the same time so they scrapped a lot of background information. It's still implied in the movie that they knew their way around that part of Texas so I just outright said it.


	7. Chapter 7

They thought she was kidding but Faith went home as soon as Truman gave them the all clear and a don't-do-anything-dumb speech. He managed to get the group twelve hours of solace. There was a part of her that almost entertained the idea of going with Will to see his daughters but she told him to go without her. It wasn't that she didn't want to meet Clare and Ella, she just knew that it wasn't the right time. He needed to see them without having to worry about her.

Grace and AJ ran off to 'be alone' and her dad was going to see her grandfather. It was a long time coming if you asked Faith; the two man have been ignoring each other for the last decade or so. She could almost guarantee that Chick went to see his son. He wasn't supposed to because his ex-wife had a court order but if Denise only knew what was going on, she would welcome him with open arms.

Bear, Freddy, Rock, Oscar and Max all headed to a strip club. Faith wished she could say she was surprised but it was just like them to want to see naked girls before they all strapped into the Acme rocket. It was crazy to her that they were flying to Kennedy Space Center in the morning. Faith was pulled from her thoughts by the doorbell.

"Aren't you supposed to be with two little girls who look like you?"

Will smiled, "I was. I hung out, colored a bunch of pictures, had dinner, watched a movie, read bedtime stories and tucked them in. I couldn't stay without telling Jess what was going on and I don't want them to worry." She stepped aside to let him in. He looked around, "So this is you?"

"Yep." Her house was a mix of different styles, none of the furniture matched but it all went together well. The floor plan was open but it was welcoming. "I wanted it to have character."

He chuckled, "It does have that but I think it's more to do with you."

She smiled, "Charmer."

"Only around you." Will wrapped his arms around Faith and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, "Hi."

Faith smiled, "Hi." All that time they spent trapped together at Johnson Space Center and hours after they get to leave, here they are. She couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"What?" Faith told him what she was thinking and he chuckled, "I thought that on my drive over. I almost went home. Figured you'd need a break from me."

"There is no one else I'd rather spend my last free hours on Earth with."

He kissed her neck, "That so?"

Faith nodded, "It is." The thought of him here, in her house, felt so right. "Come on." She took his hand and pulled him up the stairs.

"Where are we going?"

Faith looked at him, "I'm spending the rest of the night in your arms… so bed."

Will chuckled, "I think that is the best idea I've heard in a while."

* * *

Dottie, the asteroid, was public. A meteor shower hit South East Asia overnight, killing 50,000 people in Shanghai and the whole world looked up. Everything went into overdrive the second they all got back to NASA.

"This is crazy, Faithie," her best friend said to her.

She chuckled, "Story of our lives, Fred."

"Sharp, Stamper, Noonan, you gotta see this," Tucker motioned for them to follow him.

The three of them squeezed into the room with the tall pilot. The rest of the crew was standing around a large screen watching as a newscaster started talking, "A French satellite has tracked an object in space. Scientists are calling this a global killer. We have just learned that NASA is on a full-scale military alert. The government has been very tight-lipped, though, it appears that the Pentagon is getting involved at this point with some kind of a project involving, perhaps, a shuttle mission. Senior Pentagon officials refused to comment, adding fuel to the speculation that there could be a very serious problem."

Freddy huffed, "No shit. Think NASA will talk to them?"

"I'll have a statement for 'em when you get to Kennedy. Everyone ready?" Truman asked them.

He was met with looks and Harry chuckled, "I'm gonna go with 'no'." Truman nodded; the man looked like hell. Faith didn't envy him at all, he was the one who had to explain to the world what they were doing.

Faith sighed from her spot between Will and Tucker, "We're as ready as we can be, Truman."

The older man looked at her, "I know. Good luck, everyone."

They all grabbed their gear and walked to the waiting planes that were going to take them to Florida.

"Riding with us, Gracie?" Oscar asked.

The youngest Stamper shook her head, "I'm gonna fly with Harry. You know…"

Faith squeezed her sister's hand, "I know. See you in a few hours." Faith kissed Grace's temple before watching her catch up with Harry.

The Independence crew got loaded up and waited for takeoff. Faith sat with Bear, who looked at her, "We got this, Faith."

She couldn't help but smile, "Damn right, we do." She rested her head on his shoulder as the plane began to move.

"Wish you were flying with your boyfriend?" Guess everyone knew.

Faith chuckled, "Well, he is flying with my dad and my sister." She closed her eyes and tried to relax. Faith must have dozed off because Bear was waking her up. "We there?"

He nodded, "Yea. Too bad we don't get to stay in Florida for a while. I can't believe that we're leaving tomorrow."

She smiled, "You thinking about your mama?"

Bear sighed, "I wish I could tell her what's going on. She's gonna be so proud."

* * *

Kennedy was teaming with people. The military was posted at the gate and Faith couldn't believe her eyes. She nudged her pilot, "I'm guessing this is new?"

Davis glanced around, "Emergency lockdown." Since both planes landed at almost the same time, they waited until they were all together to head inside.

"Astronauts, welcome to Kennedy, I'm Tony Shaw. If you need anything, I'm the person you call. We have rooms for everyone and I believe that some of you still have prep work to do."

Gruber and Halsey went to meet the Air Force weapons officers with the nukes. Everyone was sitting together when Truman came on the news. "Is this live?" Faith asked no one in particular. Davis nodded as Truman started talking.

"We have a special team of astronauts that arrived in Florida this evening. NASA's in emergency launch preparation in cooperation with Russian, Japanese and French space agencies on the most massive joint space venture in history."

Faith didn't need to hear anymore, it wasn't gonna help any. She stepped out of the room and rested her head against the cold wall.

"Faith." She looked at Will as he rested his hand on the small of her back, "You okay?"

She took a breath, "Depends on how we're defining okay."

He smiled, "You wanna see something cool?" Faith nodded. "Wait with the others, I'll be right back."

After a few minutes, Will told the group to load into the SUVs. "Where are we going?" Oscar asked from next to her.

Will chuckled, "Right there." He pointed to a large vehicle moving one of the X-71's into position. "As long as we stay out of the way, we can get out and watch the shuttle get put into position. That vehicle is called the Crawler. On top of that is the Mobile Launch Platform. The open-air tower is the Fixed Service Structure; you'll hear FSS a lot over the next day, that's it. It has elevators and service equipment. That's how we're getting in."

They all got out of the SUVs and walked beside the shuttle. "Man, this is so cool," Max said to them.

Faith nodded, "Yea it is. Thank you, Will," she whispered.

He smiled, "You're welcome."

They all walked at chatted about the shuttles when Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her away from the group, "You picked good, Fai." Harry looked over at Will, "I'll keep an eye on him for you."

"Why am I not surprised that you know?"

He chuckled, "He told me." Faith smiled, it sounded like something the honorable officer would do.

"Aren't gonna chase him around with a shotgun, are you?"

Her father chuckled, "No. I don't think I'd get away with that one. Besides, he didn't have to tell me but he did anyway. Gotta respect a man who looks you in the eyes and tells you that he's in love with your daughter."

"You weren't so open when AJ said it," Faith reminded him.

He chuckled, "Well, I did just find Grace naked in his bed."

* * *

"Thought you'd spend the night with your fiance," Faith said to her sister.

Grace shook her head, "As much as I love him, you're my sister. Can I stay?"

Faith smiled, "Of course."

The younger woman chuckled, "Where's your boyfriend?"

The engineer shrugged, "With the other pilots, I think." Faith didn't really know but it wasn't important. Before the sisters could get into bed, there was another knock at the door.

It was Harry, "Hey."

She smiled, "Hey, dad?"

"Since when do you call me 'dad'?"

Faith chuckled, "Seemed appropriate."

He kissed her cheek as he walked into the room, "Figured you'd both be with the guys."

Grace shook her head, "We already had that conversation. Decided to do some sisterly bonding."

He chuckled, "You want me to leave?"

Both women shook their heads, "No."

"Stay. It'll be like when we were kids and I was too scared to sleep alone, so I got in bed with Faith but she would always climb in bed with you so we'd both end up sleeping on you."

Harry chuckled at his youngest daughter, "You're both a little big for that, now."

Faith shook her head, "Never too big to kick your dad outta his bed."

"Don't even think about it."

Grace smiled, "We wouldn't, you guys have a big day tomorrow. Bedtime." Faith and Grace took one bed while their dad took the other.

"I love you, girls."

"We love you more, dad," they replied in unison.

He chuckled, "I love you most. Go to sleep."

* * *

"Good morning."

Faith smiled as Will's presence washed over her, "Hey. How'd you sleep?"

Will chuckled, "Like crap… I'm too keyed up."

She nodded, "Me too. I spent most of the night holding my sister; I didn't want to let her go."

He sat next to her and looked at the shuttles, "A few more hours."

She nodded, "Any regrets?"

He smiled, "Only about a hundred. Promise me you'll be careful."

Faith smiled, "Of course I will. You better be careful too."

"Yes, ma'am."

Faith reached over and took his hand, "I wish we had more time."

He chuckled, "The collective 'we' or me and you?"

She smiled, "Both."

Will touched her face, "Well, there's nothing we can do about the first one. And we'll both fight like hell for the second one. Yeah?" She could hear the words that he didn't say. The promise that they were going to fight, win and come back to each other.

"Yeah."

* * *

None of them said anything as they got into their suits. There wasn't really anything to say. Faith looked around the room and smiled, this crazy bunch was never gonna be the same. "Astronauts." She didn't know the man's name but he was one of the people who helped them get dressed. They all stepped through the door and walked into a large room.

Harry kissed Grace on the cheek, "I'll see you in a couple days, honey." Her sister smiled and nodded at their father before she smiled at Faith.

"I'll get Frosty back in one piece. Love ya, Gracie," Faith told the nineteen year old.

The youngest Stamper hugged Faith as tight as she could, "Love you too, Faithie."

Grace let her go as AJ walked up to the duo and took her sister's hand. Faith smiled and gave them their space. She stood next to Will; they had their goodbye in private that morning. "Ready?"

He chuckled, "Not really." Will gave her hand a squeeze before they moved to join the others by the hanger door.

AJ was singing to her sister and Faith couldn't help but laugh when Tucker winced, "He's _so_ off key. I hope he doesn't sing in the shuttle, I'll abandon ship."

"… _On a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again_." She didn't expect Bear to join in, "_Leavin' on a jet plane. I don't know when I'll be back again_." Then Max and Rockhound, "_Leavin' on a jet plane. I don't know when I'll be back again_."

She shared a look with Freddy and he shrugged, "Should've picked a better song. Like '_It's the end of the world as we know it_…'"

Faith smirked, "…'_and I feel fine_'."

Tucker chuckled, "Now, that's a good song even though I have no idea what half the words are."

Faith laughed, "Nobody does that's what makes it so fun." They finally got AJ away from Grace and lined up with the rest of them. Somehow, Faith ended up in the middle.

One of the NASA officials warned them that there were a lot of people outside but this was more than she was expecting. She felt like she had lead in her boots when they told them to walk to the buses that would take them to the shuttles. "You okay?" AJ asked over her shoulder; she gave him a short nod. Was she, really?

This was epic, even without them. They were the world's only defense against this giant asteroid. Faith was terrified that they were gonna fail and kill everyone on Earth. The men and women that lined their path began cheering and clapping and Faith hoped that they didn't disappoint the world.

* * *

Taking the elevator up to the shuttle hatches was so surreal. Faith was standing between Will and Davis. She held Will's hand the entire ride up, he gave her a small smile before letting her go when the door opened. "Freedom crew. Independence crew." The man pointed to the left than to the right. This was it.

"How ya feelin', Fai?"

She looked at her dad, "Good, all things considered."

He nodded, "Listen. Once you get up there, you're gonna be on your own."

Faith smiled, "I got this, dad. I'll do my best to make you proud."

Harry smiled, "Already there." He kissed her head and looked at AJ, "Hey, kid, look out for your sister."

AJ nodded, "Always do." Harry gave AJ a quick hug before walking towards his team.

"Did Harry just...?"

She nodded, "Yep. Come on."

* * *

"You alright up there, Faithie?"

She took a breath, "Yea, Fred. You?"

He chuckled, "Oh, I'm just peachy. Oscar?"

The blonde grunted, "Great. I got that excited/scared feelin' like ninety-eight percent excited, two percent scared. Maybe more... it could be… it could be ninety-eight percent scared, two percent excited. But that's what makes it so intense, is it's so confused. I can't really figure it out." He turned his attention to the person strapping him in, "Will you make mine really tight, 'cause I don't want to fall out? I mean, almost to the point of cutting off circulation."

"At least someone is enjoying himself," Halsey muttered.

Faith smiled, "AJ, you alright?"

He gave her a subdued, "Yea." Freddy asked Bear how he was doing as the people left the shuttle.

"I'm just ready to go," the big guy muttered. Faith could understand that. After waiting a while, Faith's earpiece crackled to life.

"Independence and Freedom, this is Kennedy firing room. We're T minus one minute. All crew members, close and lock your visors." Here they go.

"Independence, this is launch control. Be advised, we're in a smooth count. T minus 31. You're go for auto-sequence start," the Shaw guy they met when they got to Florida said. Stuff on the shuttle started to kick.

Truman's voice came over the intercom, "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, you're our warriors up there. God be with you. You're already heroes. Just sit back and enjoy the ride."

"Easy for him to say," Freddy grumbled. She chuckled at her friend but didn't say anything. Faith listened to the chatter on the radio and took a deep breath.

"We're T minus 20 seconds," Shaw's voice returned. She started counting down in her head, at ten, launch control started counting out loud, "Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One."

The shuttle started to roar and rumble. Tucker notified Kennedy that the main engine started.

"We have booster ignition," that was CAPCOM in Houston. Will introduced her to the guy but she couldn't recall his name.

Davis started talking, "We're cooking, Houston." Faith wanted to close her eyes but she couldn't as they lifted off the ground. When they got to the right altitude, she heard Davis again, "Starting roll maneuver."

"Independence, we have max cue," CAPCOM again.

Tucker took a breath, "Roger, Control. We are a max cue… S.R.B. sep… We are single-engine, press to MECO."

Faith let out a breath as Houston acknowledged, "Copy, Independence press to MECO."

"Houston, this is a kick-ass ride!" Faith had to agree with Davis, as scary as this all was, she was having a blast.

"This is Independence, Main Engine Cut Out on schedule. Out," Tucker told the people on the ground back in Texas.

Houston came on the radio, "Independence, telemetry is up and running."

Faith couldn't believe her eyes, "Oh, my God."

"This is space! 'Course, we're just in the beginning part of space. We… We haven't gotten to outer space yet," Oscar said to them.

Faith shook her head, "Shut up, Oscar and enjoy the view."


	8. Chapter 8

"Alright, guys, remember the Russian space station has been up there for eleven years. Most of us don't have cars that old. Now, the cosmonaut on board has been on that tin can for eighteen months, alone. So don't be surprised if he's a little... off," Truman told them over the intercom.

Faith chuckled, "Sounds like our kind of guy."

"Let's get out of these flight suits," Davis told them. Everyone but Tucker unstrapped, he was flying. The Air Force Pilot helped her out of her suit and she gave him a hand with his, "Thanks, kid."

She smiled, "You're welcome." She liked Davis, he was like that cool uncle who shows up with kickass stories. She pulled the long-sleeved Independence shirt over her tank top and pulled her boots on, tucking her pants into them before gliding –gotta love zero gravity- back to her seat.

"You alright, Frosty?" He nodded before going to change. Faith shook her head, "You guys are such softies."

Freddy glared at her, "Can it, you." She put her hands up in mock surrender and sat in Tucker's seat while he got changed.

"This okay?"

Davis nodded, "Just don't touch anything and you're good." She looked at the stars, they were so close but still so far away.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" a voice asked from above her.

She smiled at Tucker, "Yeah, it is." Faith turned his seat back over to him and went to check on her crew. Oscar didn't look so bad, neither did Bear. Freddy was in his seat with his eyes closed. She patted his head before sitting in her seat. They got to the space station faster than she thought they would.

"We're about to dock. The Russian space station has fired her rockets to give us a little gravity, let us work faster. It's gonna make you queasy," Tucker warned them. That sounds fun. They all watched as Davis and Tucker lined the shuttle up to the space station. They switched to manual override and she knew that their movements were all them. She could hear NASA counting down how far they were but it was so much cooler to watch. There was a clanking sound, followed by a hissing sound. Then Tucker looked back at them, "Locks are engaged."

Everyone unstrapped. Davis looked at them, "Let's go, Independence. Watch your heads." Faith was behind Davis and Halsey.

"This place is a dump."

The munitions specialist looked at her, "That you're professional opinion?"

She nodded, "Actually, it is. I got tools in better shape than this place."

She glanced at Will and smiled, he gave her a wink before looking around, "Where is he? Anybody home?"

"Welcome, everybody!" Colonel Lev Andropov dropped from the ceiling and looked at them, "I am not gas station. This is sophisticated laboratory. I'm in charge. So do not be touching anything. I need one… I need you." The crazy Russian pointed at AJ.

Will nodded, "Go with him."

"I need you. Hurry up. Hurry up. Come on. Come on." AJ glanced at her before following Andropov. The colonels followed AJ and the Russian as the rest of them got set up.

Bear looked around, "Okay, let's connect these fuel lines."

Faith and the guys went into motion, getting the lines ready for fuel transfer.

"Freedom on the left, Independence on the right," Max told them. Faith and Freddy went one way while Chick and rock went the other. They hooked up the hoses.

"Tucker, we have hard lock," Faith informed the pilot.

"Roger that, Stamper." She made her way back to the main part of the space station where everyone else seemed to be.

"We're ready to transfer," Will yelled into the fuel pod.

Andropov yelled back, "I'm coming. No problem." He hit some commands, "Ready for transfusion!" There was some hissing before Andropov looked at them, "Fuel is pumping."

Will nudged her, "You okay?"

She smiled, "Yea. A little antsy… I can't pin it down but I'll feel better when we get out of here."

He chuckled, "You and me both."

They were pulled from their conversation by Lev yelling at Rock, "Don't touch my uncle. You know? He's a genius of my family. He used to work for a big bomb factory. He used to make the tip of the bomb, the thing that finds, uh, New York or Washington, you know?"

Rockhound nodded, "Ooh."

Faith shook her head as Watts walked up to them, "Check your hoses. We got some thermal variation. Harry, let's look at the couplings, back on the shuttle."

"Yea, Harry… the couplings," faith whispered to her dad.

He touched her chin, "Watch it, Fai. I'll show Sharp your baby pictures."

She smiled, "Go ahead, I was a cute baby."

"What's that noise?" Will asked, she heard it too.

Andropov looked at the gauges, "Oh, no! God!"

She looked at him, "What is it?"

He pushed past her, "Leak! Leak! Get your men back to the shuttle! Go! Go! Hurry up!"

"EVERYBODY EVAC NOW!" Will shouted.

She looked at him, "AJ!" She ran behind the cosmonaut. He was yelling at AJ to pull the lever.

"THIS IS THE LEVER!" her brother yelled back.

Faith didn't realize that Will and Davis were behind her until Andropov looked over her shoulder, "Colonel, we must get him out of there!"

She leaned over the fuel pod, "AJ, bail out! Hurry!"

She heard him scream. Will was next to her, "Hurry! Hurry!"

They were all shouting as AJ climbed the ladder, "Come on!" An explosion blew AJ under it. Faith felt like her chest was gonna cave in, "No! AJ!"

She felt an arm wrap around her waist, "We gotta move now!"

She did have any fight in her, "AJ."

Davis looked at her, "Come on! Close the hatch!"

Faith helped the colonel as Chick yelled behind her, "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! We got a man in there!"

Davis looked at him "Open that door and we'll all die!"

Faith looked up and caught the flames on the ceiling, "Will."

He followed her line of sight, "Fuel leak!"

He pushed her in front of him as Davis shouted, "Evac now! Let's go! Let's go!"

Her dad met them between the two shuttles, "Where's AJ?"

Will looked at him, "AJ's gone!"

Harry shook his head, "We're not leavin' without AJ!"

"Dad, we gotta go!" He fought with them and Faith had to help push him towards the shuttle, "GO!"

Will pushed them forward, "Strap in."

Faith was on the wrong shuttle, "I should…"

Will shook his head, "You won't make it in time." He knew exactly what she was thinking. Faith looked around and dropped into the empty seat next to her dad.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Colonel! That thing's comin' right for us. We gotta move!" Chick yelled as they peeled off.

Watts glanced back at her, "Freedom to Independence, we have your Stamper."

"Copy that Freedom. That means the Independence crew is accounted for. We're even heavy one cosmonaut. Tell Faith we're gonna miss her over here," Davis' voice came over the radio.

"Looks like you're with the old guys, monkey," Chick said to her She tightened her hold on Harry's hand, "You okay, dad?" He gave her hand a squeeze, "Yea, sweetheart, I'm alright."

"Gruber, she burned her arm. Check her over," Will instructed from his seat. Faith looked down and realized that her left arm was bright red and now that she noticed it, it started to hurt like a bitch.

"When the hell did I do that?"

Will glanced at her, "When you helped Davis with the hatch." Gruber pulled out the first aid kit and began fixing her arm.

"I guess that's what I get for pushing up my sleeves." She expected a chuckle but nothing. "I'm okay, guys. Really." Faith was almost wishing she was on her shuttle, at least they had a sense of humor about this stuff. "Wow, tough crowd. You know, it could be worse, I mean… I was helping ya'll get Harry on this shuttle, I didn't have enough time to get back to the Independence."

"We know that, monkey. That's why it's not funny. Nice try though," her father's best friend kissed the top of her head.

She nodded at Chick, "Fair enough."

* * *

"You sure you're okay?" She nodded as Will joined her in the cargo hold.

"Just needed a minute. I thought he died. I promised Grace…"

He pulled her into a hug, "You promised that you'd get him back to her." She nodded against his chest.

"You know, pulling me along to get me on your shuttle is cheating," she teased.

He chuckled, "Is not. It was an emergency situation."

"Keep tellin' yourself that, Colonel."

He kissed her head, "I plan to. You should get some sleep."

She chuckled, "Easier said than done."

Will smiled, "You can bunk with me. It'll be tight but Max fits in the bunk, so it shouldn't be too bad." All night pressed against him. Even though they couldn't do anything aside from sleep, there was no way she was passing that up. They pushed their way to the the sleeping area of the shuttle Chick, Rockhound and Gruber were already in their bunks. Will tossed his jacket, boots, and Faith's boots in his small locker before getting into his bunk and pulling Faith in.

He strapped them down and wrapped his arms around her, "You okay."

She smiled, "Never better."

* * *

"Morning, guys. It's time to suit up, I guess. Uh, we got a big day," Truman told them over the radio.

Sixty hours had come and gone rather fast, all things considered. Faith was wearing Watts' D.A.T. suit and strapped in next to her dad, behind Will. She only understood half of what the pilots were saying but it was cool to watch.

"Booster sequence confirmed," Watts hit some commands. This is the part she was dreading, they were gonna be out of contact with Houston.

"Stand by for lunar roll," Will told them.

Watts nodded, "High inclination. Lunar orbit."

Harry chuckled, "Everyone got those wills filled out correctly?"

Faith looked at him. "Not funny, Harry."

Will glanced back, "You trained for this. Remember to breathe."

Watts counted them down, "On my mark. Five. Four. Three. Two. One." They shot around the moon like a bullet.

They all listened as Will and Watts yelled out their speeds. Faith didn't pay attention, she was too busy trying to breathe. It was so heavy, like an elephant sitting on your chest. "Eight G's, hand tight," Will called out.

"We're not gonna make it!" came from Max.

"Oh, we're gonna die!" was Rockhound. They both needed to relax and breathe like the pilots told them too. They were wasting air by yelling stupid shit. They were all feeling like death at this point because it hurt to have that much pressure on you.

"We're maxed at 22,500!" Will informed them as the rattling stopped and they took deep breaths.

"That fuckin' sucked," she muttered as the pressure on her chest eased up.

Harry nodded, "No kidding, Fai."

"We have visual of the target, Houston," Will let mission control know.

"Fai, you see that?" her father asked.

She nodded, "Yea… wow." She was in awe; this thing was beautiful. It was hell bent on killing everything but still.

She could hear the wonder in Will's voice, "Houston, you gotta see this to believe it." After a couple seconds, Will flicked a switch, "FOD radar on." Harry looked at her before he looked out the window.

Watts spoke up, "You guys might want to hang on. We're going in." The pilots did their thing.

"Goddamn! We got debris!" Will told them.

Watts nodded, "We're dumping auxiliary boosters."

They seemed to be okay, then Faith heard the one thing she never wanted to hear over the radio, "We're hit! Mayday, mayday!" It was Davis.

"No. No. No," Faith whispered. Harry reached over as they all listened.

"Mayday, Houston, mayday! We've lost R.C.S. thrusters! Mayday, Freedom, mayday! We are out of control! We are going down! Do you read me? Freedom, we are going down!" Davis called into the comm system. Faith closed her eyes, she didn't want to see, she didn't want to be here. She couldn't help but listen, "Everybody, go to your own life support! Lock yourself in the cargo bay! We are going down! Houston! Houston, we are going down! We have lost control! Good luck, Freedom."

After Davis, she heard Tucker, "Oh, my God, this is it."

"Sharp, what the hell is that? ls that the Independence?" Harry yelled.

"Houston, Independence is a dead stick. They're not gonna make it. Houston, Independence has gone down." Faith felt her heart break at Will's words. She never got to say goodbye. She was supposed to be with them. "When I touch this baby down, full reverse thrust," she barely registered Will talking.

Watts was still going too, "Fires on your right, Sharp!"

"Reversing the thrusters! Hang tight! Hang tight! Houston, we overshot our landing field. We overshot our landing field," Will informed Houston. Then he landed them, hard. Everything was silent for a moment. The only thing Faith could hear was herself breathing.

"Initiate system check. Make sure we can still get off this rock," Will was looking at Watts.

She nodded, "Our electrical system is screwed. I'm going to back-up. Fuel seals check. Engine seals check. Pressure seals check."

"Anyone hurt?" Will asked them as he unstrapped.

Rockhound couldn't help himself, "Where's… Where's the other shuttle? What happened to the other shuttle?"

Will walked past her, touching her shoulder as he did. She wasn't sure if it was for her benefit or his own but she didn't care. Faith could hear the shock in his voice, "Independence is off the grid."

"'Off the grid?' What are you, a fuckin' cyborg? What does that mean?" She wanted Rock to just shut up.

Gruber looked at her before looking at Rock, "Hey, you saw it yourself, right? They're gone."

Harry took a breath, "Let's just ask God to take care of our friends. May they rest in peace."

Chick nodded, "Amen." Faith slowly unstrapped and stood on shaky legs as her dad looked around at the group.

"We got eight hours. Let's get this job done and go home. We gotta get the tools unpacked and fire up the Armadillo," Harry told them.

"I'm not getting a damn thing on the inertial nav system," Will glanced at her.

Rockhound pushed himself next to him, "I know where we are."

Will shook his head, "Please step away. Radio signal's dead."

Watts called out, "I'm flipping the backup generator. Radio signal's gonna be cut in half till we get main power back."

Rockhound rolled his eyes, "We're in segment two-oh-two, lateral grid nine, site fifteen-H dash thirty-two, give or take a few yards. Captain America here blew the landing by twenty-six miles."

Will looked at him, "How the hell do you know that?"

"Faith not the only genius, she's just the pretty one," he declared. Everyone in the shuttle glanced at her before they turned their attention back to the pilots.

Watts looked around the room, "The gauges will not read. They're all peaked, like we're plugged into some magnetic field."

Faith took a breath, "It's the ferrite." They all looked at her again. The engineer sighed, "It's why we were shooting for grid eight, thermographics indicated that grid nine was basically an iron plate." It's something that had her, Rock, Oscar and Quincy worried before they even left Texas.

"Congrats, Colonel. Good job. Great job. We're…" Rock started

She glared at her father's friend, "Rockhound, stop! This isn't his fault. In case you didn't notice, we landed… the other shuttle crashed. The shuttle that I left the planet Earth in crashed with half my family in it. You want to bitch about twenty-six miles be my guest but I'm gonna go out there and make sure that I didn't just watch my friends die for no fucking reason."

She pushed past the now quiet geologist, "I'll wheel out the remote satellite link. Gruber, suit up."

The munitions specialist nodded, "Yes, ma'am." She heard Will tell everyone to get to work as she went into the cargo hold.

Nobody dared to say anything else to her about landing sites or shuttle crashes. Faith was likely to hit someone if they did and they all knew it. Faith got the remote sat gear unloaded and onto the ramp when the guys joined her. They took it to the surface and Harry looked around.

"Down here! ln the valley!" her dad called out.

Faith looked around, "This is gonna suck." Will and Gruber looked at her as she helped them push the large piece of equipment up a short ridge.

"How you figure?" Gruber asked her.

"This place is like Dr Seuss's worst nightmare," Rockhound mumbled.

"What Rock just said."

Gruber nodded, "You okay? About your friends, I mean?"

Will glared at him but Faith smiled, "No… but I have a job to do so I can't worry about it now." Will touched her shoulder as they worked, Faith could almost swear that she felt his warmth.

"I have fire," Gruber told them as the remote satellite system booted up.

Will looked up, "Watts, I'm comin' back. Stand by."

She looked over at her dad when she heard Rockhound, "We couldn't have picked a worse spot to drill."

Harry nodded, "Well, I can pretty much guarantee it's not gonna be thicker than 50 feet."

Chick looked at him, "How do you figure that?"

"'Cause if it is, we're fucked," Faith said with a chuckle.

"Max, you good?" Harry asked the Armadillo operator.

Max nodded, "Yeah, boss. Just makin' hole. Friggin' outer space." Faith shook her head, man, was he right.

Faith looked at the Earth from where she was standing. "I hope we get back to her."

Gruber looked over her shoulder, "We'll get there."

* * *

"There's some stuff in here I ain't never seen." Harry doesn't say something like that often. He's seen a lot in all the decades he's been drilling.

"Hey, Harry, did you see that?" Max asked.

Her father looked at the 'dillo, " Yeah, Max, I see it. I see it. What is it?"

Faith was standing with Chick, "Bet we twisted a shank." Her dad had Max back the drill bit out and sure enough, she was right.

"Wow, this is a goddamn Greek tragedy," Rock got his face near the drill bit.

Harry looked at them, "We've all seen broken drill heads before."

Chick shook his head, "Not after ten feet." That's exactly what she was thinking.

Rockhound looked at them, "I never seen one."

"Well, now you've seen one," her father told the group.

She looked at Harry, "What do you want, dad?"

He looked at her, "Unpack the Judge." It's big and mean but damn if it wasn't one hell of a piece of equipment.

She helped Chick get it set up, "Alright, get ready. Max, thread it, buddy."

"Guys, the clock is tickin'. Let's go, go, go, go, go!" Max called from the 'dillo. Harry was keeping them focused. Faith was moving faster than she thought she would in this suit and with an injured arm.

She moved next to her dad, who directed the guys on what to do, "Alright! Good! Crank it loose! Keep it at twenty-five. Let's kick this asteroid's ass!"

Max was rattling off stuff, "All right, Chick. Give me more torque on the turbine, huh?"

"Max, I need some more power down here!" Harry called.

The big man kept going, "All right, boss."

Harry looked at her, "You wanna call it?"

She nodded, "Max, Throw it in fourth, then drop the hammer. Let's drill through this thing. Come on, boys. We gotta push it. We're fallin' behind."

"Dig, dig, dig. Chew this iron bitch up," Harry told them. After a few minutes, Harry looked at his best friend, "Chick, the tranny's stuck."

She glanced up at Max when he called for her father, "Harry!"

She jumped in with Chick, "Max, release the clutch, man."

"Pull it up!" Harry called. They all looked at each other as realization dawned.

Chick looked at her, "Okay. Well, this thing's not movin'." The console exploded and sent them both flying. "You alright, monkey?"

She felt okay, "Yea, I'm good."

Harry took a breath, "No, no, no! Shut it down! Shut it…"

She looked at him, "This is not workin', dad. We blew the fuckin' tranny already."

He nodded, "Yea." Her father sighed, "Come on, God. Just a little help. That's all I'm askin'." Faith closed her eyes, maybe if she prayed with him, it would help.

Max whispered, "I think we're close enough. He might've heard ya."

"Faith, Chick, with me." They nodded at Harry and followed him into the shuttle. "Let's get it unpacked," Harry told them.

"What's up?" Will asked.

Harry glanced at him, "We're drilling through some kind of metal I've never seen before. It's fried two of our drill bits, and now we blew our first transmission."

Will glanced at her before looked at Harry, "So how deep are we?"

Harry kept unpacking the transmission, "We could use your help with this, Colonel."

Will took a breath, "I have an assessment report due now. We're supposed to be at 200 feet. So, how deep are we?"

"Not as deep as we'll be when you quit askin' me these questions and help us load this transmission on," Harry was being evasive.

She rolled her eyes, "We're at fifty-seven feet." They both looked at her. She looked at Will, "We got this, you just have to let us do it."

Harry took a breath, "Now, if you're not too busy, maybe you can give us a hand with this transmission." Will walked right past her dad, "Colonel Sharp! Get this strapped up. I'll be right back. Colonel Sharp!"

Faith and Chick did what her dad asked as he went looking for Will. "You think they're gonna fight?"

She shrugged, "At this point, I don't think anything." They both looked up as the shouting started.

"You aren't gonna help him?"

Faith shook her head, "The stubborn oil driller or the stubborn pilot?"

Chick chuckled, "Either?"

"They don't need my help." They finished strapping down the tranny when she heard a beep. She looked at Chick.

He glanced at her, "Harry… the clock on that nine-foot nuclear weapon is ticking." Faith closed her eyes, she was having a fucking nightmare… that was it, a nightmare.

"Will, Secondary Protocol!" she yelled.

He came flying into the room calling the bomb expert over the radio, "Gruber, get in here, double time." Will looked at her, "Help me open this thing." She nodded and grabbed the electric screwdriver.

Harry looked at her, "You know what's going on?"

Faith took a breath, "Just the basics, it's a surface detonation activated from Earth. You can thank Kimsey and the President."

"You didn't say anything?" Harry looked at her and she could see the hurt on his face.

Will looked at her dad, "She wasn't supposed to know. I shouldn't have told her but the other option was to shoot you if you tried to stop the detonation."

"But you're trying to stop it. You don't even trust us," Harry countered.

Will nodded as Gruber took Faith's spot, "I don't trust you, I trust her."

Harry smiled in spite of himself, "Can you guys do it?"

Gruber nodded, "We got it. Idiots on the ground keep ignoring Quincy. He's the smartest man on the planet for a fuckin' reason."

Harry, Faith, Chick and Watts watched as they quickly dismantled the bomb. Gruber looked at Will, "Red or blue?"

The pilot took a breath, "I don't know… Faith, pick one."

She looked at him and smiled, "Blue." He winked before he cut the wire. The beeping stopped.

"Blue, huh?" he asked her.

"You and Grace have blue eyes."

He chuckled and kissed her head, "Nice pick, Miss Stamper."

Faith smirked, "I aim to please, Colonel."


	9. Chapter 9

"Houston? Houston, do you copy?" They were all standing around Harry as he raised mission control.

"Go ahead, Freedom." They were all pissed about almost getting blown up by their own people but her dad, more so. The government asked them to do this and literally sent all but one member of their family on this trip. It wasn't too much to ask for them to let their team do the job they were sent to do.

"Houston, you have a problem. See, I promised my little girl that I'd be comin' home. Now, I don't know what you people are doin' down there, but we got a hole to dig up there." He picked up his helmet and looked at them, "We got work to do." Faith smiled as they all moved to get back to their tasks.

Rockhound looked over, "Okay, guys. All go, no quit. How ya doin' down there? Good?" She rolled her eyes as she, Chick and Gruber put the new transmission on.

Chick smirked at her, "Okay, got the tranny. We're back in business."

"Hey, you guys should take a break and come up and see this. Wow. Got a great view of the Earth from here. Too bad we'll never set foot on her again," Rock told them.

She glanced at him, "Speak for yourself. I'm goin' home."

Chick looked at her, "Amen to that, monkey."

* * *

They got Max going again. "All right. Doin' a good job," Rockhound was getting weirder and weirder the more they were up here.

She looked over at Harry, who looked up at Max, "Give me a depth reading, Max." She looked at him too as he rattled off that they were at one hundred fifty feet.

"We gotta hurry," Gruber whispered.

Faith nodded at Air Force Master Sergeant, "Working on it."

"Yee-ha!" Ride 'em, cowboy! Yippee-kai-yo, kai-yay!" They all looked at Rockhound, he was on the bomb. He was riding the bomb like he was at a rodeo.

Will was standing next to her, "Get off... the nuclear... warhead."

Rock looked at them, "I was doin' that guy from that movie, you know, Slim Pickens, where he rides it all the way in, the nuclear warhead."

"Now," Will glared. Faith would've laughed but he was nuts.

Rock smiled, "Oh, you didn't see that one, huh?" She shook her head.

"We got six hundred feet of hole to dig, Rockhound," Harry was trying to refocus Rock.

"All right. Just wanted to feel the power between my legs, brother. Hey, Sharp. No nukes! No nukes! No nukes!" Rock danced around.

She looked at Will, "Is that gun in the safe loaded?"

He smirked, "Can be in about half a second."

Faith closed her eyes, "We might have to shoot him."

Will chuckled, "Want the honors, gorgeous?" Did she ever.

* * *

"Rockhound, keep on that transmission," Harry ordered. She glanced at the man in question.

"Tranny looks good, Harry."

Her father nodded, "Alright." Faith, Chick, Will and Gruber were getting another pipe on the line. "Lock it down, guys. Good job."

"How come we didn't get any training on this thing?" She heard Rockhound ask. F

aith glanced around for him, "Dad…" Rockhound started shooting the gun that was mounted on the Armadillo. They only had the damn thing to clear out stuff that was in their way but now they didn't need it. Her dad snuck around Rock as he yelled that he was gonna destroy the asteroid without them.

Harry body checked his friend, "Rockhound! What the hell's the matter with you? Goddamn!"

Will looked at Gruber, "This is insane." She glanced at Will as shook his head. "He's got space dementia."

Faith heard a hiss and turned towards the Armadillo. "Max, downshift and put it in reverse. We gotta get that pipe outta there."

Max's eyes locked with hers, "Uh oh. Faithie. What's happening?"

Will looked at her, "The ground's cracking!"

At the same time, Chick yelled, "Earthquake!" Harry looked at Max, "Quick, shut it off! Shut it off!" F

aith swallowed, "Dad! We're gonna have a blowout!"

He nodded, "I know, we hit a gas pocket!"

Max was still in the vehicle, "We got pressure out the ass!" He needed to bail out, fast.

"Max, get your helmet on! She's gonna blow!" Harry was still trying to get him out.

Max yelled, "Ah! Oh, Jesus, I'm cooking!"

She looked up, "Max, bail! Come on!"

He looked at her dad through the glass, "This is it! Harry! I'm bailing!" He didn't get a chance, the Armadillo got launched right off the ground.

"MAX!" Harry screamed for their friend, "MAX!"

Rock looked up, "Goodbye, Max. Take care, buddy."

This was not happening. Faith stood next to Chick, "What do we do now?"

He looked at her, "I don't know, monkey. I don't…"

"Get a hold of Truman. Prepare the world for bad news," Harry told them.

Rock looked around, "Guess what, guys? It's time to embrace the horror. Look. We got front-row tickets to the end of the Earth."

She shook her head, "Jackass. We all don't have a death wish. Some of us actually care. There are six billion people down there… Grace and Will's daughters and Chick's son are down there... " She closed her eyes and leaned against the fissure she was standing next to. They failed.

"We can still drop the bomb in the hole… I doubt it'll help… but…" she heard Will offer. She looked at him. It wasn't fair. They were fighting for a lot of things, including time. Time that they spent passing by each other without even realizing it. Time that he missed out on with his kids. Time she missed while on the rig. Time to look at the sky. Just time.

Then the most beautiful sound came over the radio, static. Not that Faith liked static but in this case, it was someone on their frequency. Since the only people here came in on two shuttles, the sound she heard meant that someone from the Independence survived and they were close enough to pick up the signal. Harry looked around until they all spotted the lights. Her father stood, "YEA!"

"Way to go, baby!" She knew that voice. Gentle and booming as always.

"Harry!" She knew that voice too.

Bear and AJ, they were alive. "Yo, Harry! What's up, baby?" Bear called. Faith could've cried. They weren't all dead.

Harry smiled, "We got a hole to make!" They drove the Armadillo into the valley were the hole was.

Bear got out of the large vehicle, "Yo, Harry! Hey, baby girl."

"Papa Bear!" she yelled. He smiled that big smile at her before letting someone else out. The Russian, Lev.

AJ popped up behind him, "Hey, Harry. You miss me?"

Her dad smiled, "AJ, I got just five words for ya. Damn glad to see ya, boy!"

AJ chuckled, "That's six words."

She shook her head, "You made me cry, Frosty. I'm kicking your ass when we get back."

He chuckled, "Love you too, Faith."

Her dad chuckled, "Chick, walk 'em down."

AJ sat back down, "So where's this hole you need dug?" She was so fucking happy to see him it wasn't even funny.

Harry looked at her, "All yours."

Faith shook her head, "What are you…?"

He smiled, "Your rig, your driver, your call. Where do you need me, boss?" Harry was giving her the reigns.

She looked at him, "I was helping Chick."

He nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

She took a breath and turned her attention to the Armadillo. "You ready, AJ? We gotta go fast."

Her brother chuckled, "Born ready."

She smiled, "Okay, bring her down, Frosty. We got two hundred fifty feet to go. It's our last transmission, last drill head."

He nodded, "Got it, boss lady. I'm punchin' through. First gear. We got contact."

She smiled, "That's what I like to hear, man. Let's show this bitch who's boss." It was like new life was breathed into all of them.

She heard Bear behind her, "We got this, man. Let's go!"

* * *

They used standard NASA protocol on Rockhound and duct-taped his ass in a chair where Watts could keep an eye on him. The pilot and Lev were making sure the shuttle could get off this rock. Faith had hope that they could do it. They were almost there.

"How deep are we, Frosty?"

He glanced in her direction, "Seven seventy." Thirty more feet. Faith felt a rumble, not this shit again.

"Harry, he needs to back it out," Chick rushed over. Harry, Will, Bear and Gruber all looked in Faith and AJ's direction.

Harry looked at her, "Methane! Shut it down! Back it down!"

They were not gonna make it they did that. She knows that they could break through but Harry just had to let them. Faith shook her head, "No, the bit'll get lodged if he backs out now. We don't have enough time."

Chick looked at them, "It's gonna blow!"

Harry took a breath, "It's how we lost Max!"

She nodded, "I know but you have to trust us, dad. We got this. Goddamn it, we can do this."

"Harry, it's gonna blow!" Chick warned.

Faith looked at her father, "Dad, I know what I'm doin'. You just gotta trust me to do it."

He nodded, "Your call, kid."

She jumped up on a rock, "Alright, it's just you and me, AJ. Let's take it home."

He nodded, "Alright, I'm pushin' through her. I'm pushin' through her!"

"Gimme a depth?" she asked.

"Seven seventy-five. Seven eighty."

She nodded, "Come on, Frosty, it's all you, man."

Harry watched them, "You got it, kids."

She smiled, "Drive on down, AJ! How far?"

He looked at her through the glass, "Seven eighty-five."

"Come on. Come on," Will muttered from behind her.

She heard Bear, "Come on, AJ!"

Chick was watching too, "Punch it!"

AJ rattled off another depth, "Ninety-one. Come on. Seven ninety-two. Seven ninety-five!"

"Drive it down, AJ. Give this bitch hell," she told him.

They were so close, "Seven ninety-seven! Ninety-nine!"AJ called.

She smiled, "Breakthrough!"

He nodded, "Eight hundred! Eight-oh-two, Faithie!"

She smiled, "Fuck yea! We did it!" The guys all stated cheering.

Harry hugged her, "Yea! Way to go, you two!"

AJ smiled, "I knew it, baby!"

Faith looked at them, "Guys, we're not done yet."

Will nodded, "Still gotta set the bomb up. We have… thirty-eight minutes."

Faith looked around, "Let's start getting those pipes out of that hole, fellas."

They made quick work of getting the pipes out until one got lodged. "It's stuck. Who wants to go down?" Chick asked. They all groaned.

"I'll do it. I'm the smallest," Faith looked at her dad.

He nodded, "Let's get you tethered."

"Guys, I need that hole," Will called over to them from where he and Gruber were prepping the bomb.

Harry glanced at Will, "Gimme a minute. We got a bent pipe jammed down there and we gotta cut it out before we can send that bomb down."

The colonel nodded as Chick handed Faith the saw, "We got ya, monkey." She nodded and began to climb down. It was a good thing she went; AJ was probably the only other person who could fit.

"Fai, come on! Make it fast!" he dad called down.

She chuckled, "Goin' as fast as I can! There's a lot of gas pressure!" Faith found the bent pipe and began sawing at the bend so they could pull it out.

"You feel that?" she doesn't know who her dad was talking to but that was not a good question to ask on this trip.

"Harry, you gotta give me that hole. The bomb is almost ready," Will told her father.

She could hear Harry, "Pull that pipe out!"

She chuckled, "Dad, I'm almost through! Give me 15 more seconds!" Faith could feel the walls around her rumbling.

"Well, this is somethin' new," she heard Chick mutter. Faith had to get out of here, right now.

Harry sounded scared, "I don't think this thing likes us."

Chick relied, "That's 'cause it knows we're here to kill it… Whoa!" That didn't sound good.

She heard some crashes and some medal clanking, "Hey, what's goin' on up there?"

"Faith!" Harry screamed for her.

She took a breath, "What the hell was that?"

Chick must be above her, "Monkey, you gotta come up."

Easier said than done, "Goddamn it, I'm finished!"

Someone was tugging on her line, "Monkey, you all right?"

Not really, "Oh, lot of gas pressure in here, Chick! Get me out!"

She heard Harry, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hydrogen pocket!"

The damn thing blew her straight into the air, which would've been okay if someone had her line. "Dad!" This was not good, not good at all.

"I got her! Hang on, Faith!" AJ caught her tether.

"Pull me in."

He grunted, "Working on it, hang on." Debris hit the line and sent Faith tumbling to the ground. Of course, that's where all the trouble was.

She heard Will yell at Gruber to secure the bomb. Gruber yelled back, "Sharp, heads up!"

Bear was looking in their direction, "Gruber! Get outta there now!" She saw the munitions specialist go flying. Shit.

"Oh, God, no! Dad, look out!" Harry and Chick hit the deck just as a boulder as big as the Armadillo went flying past them.

"Do you believe that just happened?" Chick shook his head at Harry's question. "Faith, you okay, honey?"

She took a couple breaths, "Yea, dad, I'm okay." She looked around as her dad called for each of them.

"Sharp, you alright?" Harry asked.

She could hear Will breathe, "I'm okay." Faith let out the breath she was holding.

Harry kept going "Bear, AJ?" They were both in one piece.

She looked over when Harry got to Gruber, "He's dead, guys. Gruber's dead."

"Let's get that bomb ready and go home," Harry said the group. Faith was all for that. They all pushed themselves back towards the shuttle.

"Thanks for the save, Frosty."

He chuckled, "You would've done the same for me. It wouldn't have been as cool but still." She smiled, "Let's get back to Gracie, huh?"

AJ nodded, "I'm down with that."

"Oh, my God," Will looked up at her and motioned her over. Faith didn't know much about this bomb, just the little bit she learned thanks to a crash course from Gruber on their way here. She could tell they were in trouble by the look on Will's face.

Harry looked at them both, "Is there a problem, Colonel?" Problem was a bit of an understatement. Faith examined the damage to the bomb while Will talked to the others.

"The timer, the remote, the whole thing's dead."

AJ looked at Will, "What, the bomb is dead?"

Faith looked up from the mangled metal, "No, it's the trigger."

Will nodded, "Bomb is fine but the trigger's dead. It must've gotten damaged during the rock storm."

She was gonna regret this, "How do we detonate it?"

"Manually," Will looked at them, "Let's get this in the hole and sort it out inside." They all pitched in to get the bomb in the hole; Will attached a line to it. If Faith had to guess, it was the cable to attach the manual detonator.

"It takes two people to fly this thing. Either we all stay and die, or you guys draw straws." Will came up with a logical solution but something gnawed at Faith.

"I say we all stay and die. But that's me." She shook her head at Rockhound. He really is crazy.

AJ shrugged, "I'll draw. Let's draw."

"Nobody's gonna draw straws. I'll stay and take care of it." She looked at her father. He was calm and the set in his shoulders told her that it wasn't really up for debate.

Chick shook his head, "Well, I can't live with that sort of thing."

Harry looked at his best friend, his brother, "Nobody asked you if you could live with it, alright?"

"Bullshit! No way I will let you volunteer for this so I can go back to my home country like the man who didn't volunteer. No way!" Lev yelled.

Bear looked at them, "Hey, man, let's draw, and let's see who's gonna stay up here and dance."

Rock looked at her before he looked at everyone else, "Guys, l know you guys think I'm crazy right now, but I would really like this responsibility."

"What's the point?" Faith asked. They all looked at her. "We all know dad isn't gonna let one of us stay, doesn't matter who gets the short straw. From the moment Truman told us what was goin' on… It was always gonna end this way, wasn't it?"

Harry nodded, "Yea."

Faith figured it out the same time that she told him to let AJ keep drilling. All this time, she thought he was questioning her because he didn't trust her but he was questioning her to make sure she trusted herself. He needed to see her lead, even if it meant going against him. He signed over the company, gave his approval of Will and let her take charge. He knew he was gonna die on this trip. Realization dawned on the faces of the others. Everyone but Lev knew that you couldn't talk Harry out of something if he set his head to it. It's what made him who he is.

"This is the best option. I got you guys into this, it's only right that I finish it," her father told them. For a moment, the only sounds in the cargo hold were from the shuttle itself.

"It's been a wild ride, brother," Chick hugged Harry. "I'll keep an eye on your girls."

Harry looked at him, "You take care of that little boy. Beg Denise if you have to." Bear moved in next, he didn't say anything, just hugged his boss.

"Well, if I wasn't strapped down…" Rockhound quipped.

Harry chuckled, "Behave, Rock."

Their crazy friend nodded, "I'll try."

"Always thought of you as a son, AJ. Always. I'd be damn proud to have you marry Grace. You take care of my little girl and yourself. I love you, son."

AJ had tears running down his face as her dad hugged him, "I love you too, Harry."

Harry looked at Will, "She's stubborn as hell but you figured that out already."

Will nodded, "Yea."

"She loves you, you know. Take care of her, Sharp."

The pilot nodded, "I will."

Faith looked at her dad, who smiled and tugged the end of her braid, "I remember when you taught me how to do that to Grace's hair. I kept wondering what I was gonna do without you to help me take care of her when you left for college. Sad, I know. You never complained, you just took care of your sister. The guys. Me. It's time to take care of yourself."

"You know, I just copied you when I couldn't figure something out. You always do the right thing. I am so proud to be your daughter."

He smiled, "I have loved you since the second I learned of your existence and I will never stop loving you, Faith Marie." He pressed a kiss to her head.

"I love you more."

He smiled, "I love you most." He looked over her shoulder, "Don't give the colonel a hard time. He's so in love with you it's almost painful to watch." She chuckled and nodded as Will told him how to set off the bomb. Harry pulled his mission patch off and handed it to AJ, "Give that to Truman for me. I love you, guys."

They all watched him go down in the elevator. Faith looked at the team, now her team, "We gotta strap in, guys." They all nodded as they made their way to the cockpit. They dumped Rockhound behind Will, put AJ in Harry's seat, she took Gruber's spot, Bear sat in Max's seat and Lev took one of the seats in the back.

"All right, let's go, Sharp. Let's get our team outta here," Harry told them over the radio. Will and Watts were moving so fast she could barely keep up with them.

"Monkey, you alright?" Chick asked.

She chuckled, "Nope."

He nodded, "Yea, me neither."

"Houston, do you copy? This is Harry Stamper." Faith looked at AJ. He looked like she felt, tired, worn out and just done. Her dad was on the radio, she listened to his voice, he wanted to talk to Grace.

"Daddy!" Faith couldn't stop herself from crying when she heard her sister's voice.

"Hi, Gracie. Hi, honey. Grace, I know I promised you I was comin' home." Harry was about to break the kid's heart.

"I don't under… understand." Faith's heart hurt as she listened to them.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to break that promise," Harry told his youngest child.

Grace chuckled, "I, um… I lied to you, too, when I told you that I didn't want to be like you. Because I am like you. And everything good that I have inside of me, I have from you. I love you so much, Daddy. I'm so proud of you. I'm so scared. I'm so scared."

"I know it, baby, but there won't be anything to be scared of soon. Gracie, I want you to know that AJ saved us. He did. I want you to tell Chick that I couldn't have done it without him, none of it. You should've seen your sister up here bossing us around, Faith kicked ass, Gracie. She has been taking care of all of us her whole life. I think it's time she let somebody take care of her." Will glanced at her for a millisecond. Harry kept talking, "I want you to take care of AJ. I wish I could be there to walk you down the aisle. But I'll look in on you from time to time, okay, honey? I love you, Grace."

Faith could hear her sister crying, "I love you more."

Harry chuckled, "I love you most. I gotta go now, honey."

"Daddy, no." The signal cut out. Faith closed her eyes but the tears kept coming. She knew she wasn't the only one.

"What the hell's goin' on up there? Why haven't you guys left yet?" Faith looked at Will.

His hands were flying over the controls, "We're going, Harry. Houston. We got O.M.S. pod pre-start."

"Pod pre-start confirmed," Watts said as the ship sputtered and whined.

Will looked at Watts, "What's the problem?"

The blonde shook her head, "I don't know."

Lev yelled, "What's wrong?"

Will kept working, "Fix it now! We got no time, no time!"

Watts ran past her and Lev followed. "Will… what's going on?"

He glanced at her, "We aren't starting."

Rock shook his head, "Blow the bomb, Harry. We're with ya."

Will was still trying to figure it out, "Come on, Watts."

"Sharp, get out of here now. You got less than three minutes," Harry was telling them to go. Faith couldn't decide if she should stay in her seat or try to help. She didn't know how the shuttle worked but it was a machine and she speaks that language very well.

The radio crackled in her ear, it was Clarke, "We're gettin' tight for ignition, Freedom."

"Houston, we've got no fire," Will didn't sound too sure that they would get off this rock.

She looked at him, "Will, breathe. Watts has it, you know she does." He nodded.

Rock looked at her, "You know what that means, Faith?"

She nodded, "Ship's busted. All the crap we did to it, I'm not surprised."

"A busted ship? And I'm strapped in here. I had a great spot picked out there." They all looked at Rockhound the best they could.

"He can't really be a genius?" Will asked her.

Faith chuckled, "He is."

"Freedom, you fire that engine. If there's not a way, you find a way. The clock's tickin'," Clarke is worried. She could hear it in his voice. "Let's go! Let's fire that engine, Freedom!"

Harry's voice came back, "You got less than a minute. Don't think I won't blow this thing." He was gone for a second but came back, "Sharp, get out of here. It's gettin' bad down here."

The ship came to life, "She's coming back. She's coming back. We're hot! Watts! Let's go, let's go!" The pair of pilots were frantic but controlled. "Let's go! We don't have time! Hurry, hurry. We got no time! Initiate thrusters on my mark! Two, one, mark!" Watts followed Will's instruction and they were off. "Thank you, Harry." Will whispered it but she heard him. After a minute, he looked back at them, "Something's not right. Too much time has gone by." Faith knew her father, he'd do it. "We're goin' back and do it ourselves."

Chick shook his head, "Just don't. Wait one minute." Will looked at Faith. She didn't say anything as Chick kept talking, "Colonel, I'm askin' you. Just one more minute!"

AJ spoke up, "Harry'll do it. I know it. He doesn't know how to fail." Will moved his hand away from the control and nodded.

Faith closed her eyes, "Come on, dad."

Then there was a flash.


	10. Chapter 10

_"Faith Marie Stamper, get your skinny butt down, now!" _

_She looked at her father, "But daddy…" _

_He shook his head, "Get down, right now." Faith huffed but climbed from her spot a few feet from the top of the rig. "What are you doin' up there? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"_

_"I was fine. I can see the whole rig from up there, daddy. It's really cool." _

_He looked at her, "Cool? Cool? You could bust your head open if you fell!" _

_She rolled her eyes, "I wasn't gonna fall." She shook her head, "I was just looking at the sky. Mom would…" _

_"She's not here, I'm here. That's dangerous." _

_She looked at him, "I was just trying to be normal. There aren't any trees to climb here."_

_ He put his hands on his hips but Chick jumped in before he could say anything, "Harry, don't say something you'll regret. Miranda leaving ain't her fault. The kid's a monkey, she always has been."_

_"You would know that if you were ever around. Not my fault you don't pay attention." _

_Harry looked at her, "Young lady, I should…" _

_Faith glared, "What? We're in the middle of nowhere, what are you gonna do, dad? Stop me from seeing my friends? Ground me? You already did that and I didn't even do anything wrong." _

_Chick looked at her, "Faith, you need to watch how you talk to your father, sweetie."_

_"Let me know when I get one of those. All I see is the man who made my mom so sad that she left." _

_Chick looked at her, "Faith." _

_She rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Sorry." _

_Uncle Chick knelt in front of her, "Your mom leaving isn't your dad's fault. It's not your fault either. Change happens for a reason. Sometimes, we just have to let people go. You might not understand it now but one day, when you're a little older and a little wiser, you will."_

* * *

Faith was numb.

What could she say? What could any of them say? Harry was dead. He hit the button just like they knew he would to save the world. The logical part of her brain understood that it had to be done but it didn't stop the pain in her chest. If having a broken heart was a real medical condition, she had it.

It took them a few hours after Zero Barrier to get home. In that time, they all changed back into the orange -and blue, in Will and Watts' case- flight suits and strapped back in. "Almost home, guys," Bear mumbled. She looked at the pilots as the sky turned into the ground.

"Houston, we see you. And you never looked so good," Will told mission control.

Usually, shuttles landed at Kennedy but an exception was made for them long before they left Earth. They were putting down at Ellington Field, the joint military airfield adjacent to Johnson where they did their flight training. Faith took a deep breath; they were almost home. A few more minutes and they would be on the ground.

"I never told anybody this before but I hate flyin', so it'd be an awful shame to die now," Chick told them.

Rock rolled his eyes, "That's easy for you to say. I owe a hundred grand to a badass loan shark which I spent on a stripper named Molly Mounds."

AJ snorted, "You would."

Watts chuckled, "Houston, we are 100 percent. Flap suspension control on full." The pilots landed them smoothly.

After coming to a full stop, Will looked at the team, "Welcome home, astronauts." They all unstrapped but none of them went anywhere. As much as they all wanted to run to see their families, they had to wait.

One of the first things they learned was that they had to get used to gravity again. Something else Will taught them was that re-entry is hot and the shuttle had to air blown over it to eliminate some of the gasses that built up before they open the door. It was only forty-five minutes to complete the landing checklist but it felt like an eternity.

As soon as they got the all clear, they got up. "You alright?"

She looked up at Will, "Nothing is ever gonna be the same."

He brushed her cheeks with his thumbs as he held her face, "No… but that's not necessarily bad. Come on, you got a little sister to see and I wanna hug my kids." He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips before they joined the others.

"Hey, guys, remember: We're heroes now. So that incident with me and the gun on the asteroid; let's keep that under wraps, all right?" AJ, Bear and Lev looked at Rockhound. Faith, Chick, Will and Watts all laughed.

"They didn't know why you were tied up Rock… good job," Chick told him.

Lev hit the release for the hatch. AJ and Chick were out first. Bear and Lev were second. Faith and Rock behind them. Will and Watts were last. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath the second her feet hit the tarmac. Together, they walked towards the building. Bear even kissed the ground at some point, muttering his thanks the whole time.

She could see her sister running towards them. AJ looked at her and she smiled, "She's not running to me, Frosty, go." He took off to meet Grace. Faith smiled when Grace jumped into AJ's arms. Will reached over and grabbed her hand.

"You know, we never talked about what happens now," she looked at Will.

He smiled, "I promised you a date."

Faith chuckled, "I think we're a little past that."

Will shrugged, "So, indulge me... For the next twenty-five years or so."

"Did you just…?"

He smirked, "We'll talk about it later." He let her hand go as they got closer to Grace and AJ. Faith wrapped her arms around her sister.

"You did good, Fai," Grace said.

She chuckled, "Well, I had a little help." Grace laughed as she pulled back and gave Will a hug too.

"Welcome back, Sharp."

He smiled, "Good to be back, Grace."

"DADDY!" Two little brunette girls dressed in red, white and blue came sprinting in their direction with a beautiful blonde couple hot on their trail. Faith knew who they were instantly, they looked a lot like their father. Will smiled as he knelt to their level and caught them both when they jumped for him.

"Mommy said you saved the world, is that true?" The older one, Clare asked.

He nodded, "Yea, me and my friends saved the world, sweetie. Hey, Jess, Rich."

His ex-wife and her husband smiled but didn't say anything as the little girl looked at Faith, AJ and Grace and waved, "Hi. I'm Clare Sharp. This is my little sister Ella, she's shy."

"Am not," Ella told them before leaning against Will. Faith chuckled, she remembers a time when that was her and Grace.

"Hi, Clare and Ella. I'm Faith Stamper. This is my little sister Grace, she's not shy. And her boyfriend, AJ. He's not shy either." Ella giggled while Clare whispered something to Will.

He nodded, "Go ahead." He sat the little girl on her feet and she walked over to Faith.

Faith knelt to Clare's level as the girl wrapped her small arms around the engineer, "Thank you for saving us, Miss Faith."

She smiled, "You're welcome, sweetie." Clare let her go and hugged AJ too before she took Faith's hand.

Will chuckled, "Oh, you're really stuck with me now, _Miss Faith_."

Jess looked at her and smiled, "So, she's the girlfriend? Go, Sharpie. I'm Jess, Willie's ex-wife. You're prettier than he described."

"Uh… hi. You told her about me?"

Will chuckled, "Don't look so surprised. You two had to meet eventually. We aren't married anymore but as the mother of my children, I do tell her about the important stuff." Grace nudged her.

Faith looked at her sister, "Don't you say it."

Grace shrugged, "What? I told you so? But I did tell you."

Faith rolled her eyes, "Can it, Misses Frost."

Grace laughed, "Not an insult. Just FYI."

She nodded, "Too many small ears for that."

"Not bad, you guys. Not bad at all." Truman walked up to their little group as Chick hugged his son and some woman that was probably a stripper was kissing Rockhound.

"Uh, Harry wanted you to have this," AJ handed the director Harry's mission patch.

"He did, huh?" They all nodded. Truman smiled, "It's a long story, I'll tell you later. Right now, you guys have to see medical."

Bear looked at him, "Just keep Nurse Helga away from us." Faith chuckled as all the guys shuddered including Will. Helga was nice to her –and apparently Watts- but maybe it was because she was a woman.

Truman chuckled, "I'll see what I can do. Your families know what's going on. In a few minutes we'll move them into a lounge to wait for you."

* * *

This was a horrible idea. She gets the need for a post-flight press conference but she didn't really want to talk to these people three hours after getting back. Truman's advice was to let him, Will and Watts do all the talking, of course that went out the window with one question: "Mission Specialist Stamper, how are you doing?"

Faith chuckled, "Was that a real question?" The reporter nodded. She took a breath, "Honestly, I feel like crap. I was in space for almost seventy hours, we're tired, we have family that we haven't seen in weeks waiting for us and we loss eight extraordinary men, including my father. How do you think I'm doing?" The room was silent.

She thought Truman or Will would step in but they didn't, so she kept talking. "I understand everyone's need to talk about this, to understand but… this wasn't a mission to fix the Hubble or a trip to a space station, this was a knockdown, drag out, bloody knuckles fight for this planet. A fight for our families and yours. A fight that cost each of us a great deal. We saved the world, now we have to live… that's the hard part… we have to live."

* * *

"Bet that's gonna be the sound bite. I gotta tell ya, Faith, that was gloomy."

She shrugged at Rockhound, "The truth sometimes is. Sorry I ruined your press conference, Truman." H

e chuckled, "You didn't ruin anything. I'm glad you said something, I couldn't get away with that if I tried, I'm not pretty enough."

She shook her head, "So… what happens to us now?"

"You'll stay here for a few days so medical can make sure you're all at a hundred percent. We'll talk about what happens after that before you leave. I think you should all see your families and get some rest." Truman walked away from the group.

Chick chuckled, "I'm gonna go hang out with my kid."

Will nodded, "Right behind you. You guys coming?"

Faith shrugged, "Why not?"

* * *

"Let's see… he's really handsome and he's wearing blue so… I think it's your daddy." Ella nodded as Faith looked at the picture she drew. "That girl is really pretty, is that you?"

Ella shook her head "That's you, Miss Faith."

She put her hand over her heart, "No way, she's way too beautiful to be me. Are you sure?" Ella nodded again. Faith chuckled, "I'll take your word for it."

Ella smiled, "I drew it for you. That's you and daddy and the space shuttle and the stars and the world." Faith realized that Ella wasn't shy, just reserved. Clare was playing with Bear, Chick and Tommy while Ella decided to color.

Faith smiled, "Thank you. I think I'm gonna hang it on my fridge."

Ella giggled, "Daddy does that."

"You wanna draw something for him?" Ella nodded and the pair got to work drawing a picture for Will.

"What do we have here?"

Ella smiled up at Will, "I'm drawing you a present, daddy. You can't see it yet."

He chuckled, "That so? Well, excuse me."

Faith nudged him, "You heard her, you can't see it yet."

Will looked at her with mock hurt, "Thought you were on my side."

"She's cuter than you and she drew me a picture."

He smiled, "I see how it is. Taking my kid." He dropped a kiss to the top of Ella's head and one to Faith's cheek before leaving them alone. Faith never really thought about having kids. It wasn't that she didn't want any, she just never found the right person to even consider procreating with. Man, was she thinking about it now.

* * *

They were all moved to the part of the building where the pilots' rooms had been for the last few weeks. They were more comfortable and more private. There was a knock at her door. Faith thought about ignoring it but she figured it was Will. "Hi."

He smiled, "Hi. Can I come in?"

She stepped away from the door, "The girls?"

"Went home. It's way past their bedtime."

Faith chuckled, "But _dad_…"

Will laughed, "That sounds about right. They wanted to stay but we all need some rest. I think Rockhound's girlfriend is still here, though." She shook her head at the mention of Molly Mounds. Nothing against strippers, in fact, Faith thought that it was just like Rock. At least Molly was nice, overly sexual, but still nice.

"They like you. My girls, Jess and Rich too."

She shrugged, "Well, I like them."

He nodded, "I know, I saw that."

Will gave her a look and Faith smirked, "What?"

He shook his head, "Nothing." They needed to talk but she didn't have the energy.

Will must have been reading her mind, "We'll be here a few days, there will be plenty of time to talk. Right now, I just wanna lay in bed with you."

Faith smiled, "Well, that is an idea I can get behind."

* * *

"Say that again."

Truman chuckled, "Work for me. That mission to Mars is still on deck and I could use someone with your expertise to work on the gear, maybe even go up." Faith was speechless. Truman wanted her to stick around NASA. She had to think about it and talk to her sister. With Harry gone they own his company. While Faith could easily see herself going back, there was a part of her that didn't want to. Truman smiled, "I don't need an answer right now. Just want you to think about it." He patted her arm before leaving her in the conference room.

Could she really work for NASA? In the span of less than three weeks that's exactly what she did. She fixed the rig, helped build a mount, trained to go into space and went. She couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to work here for real.

Faith went looking for her sister and found Grace watching the news. "How bad?"

She chuckled, "You're popular. Pretty, smart, honest. People like you."

Faith chuckled, "I guess my life is complete. Maybe I should turn Truman down."

Grace looked at her and smiled, "He offered you a job?"

She nodded, "I don't know what to do."

"Yes you do. You always do. If you're worried about the company, don't be. I can handle it."

Faith chuckled, "No you can't… not by yourself, anyway."

Grace shrugged, "I got AJ, Bear, maybe Chick. I'll make it work."

Faith looked around, "Can you really see me working here?"

Grace nodded, "Yep. I bet your boyfriend would get a kick out of it too."

"Yea… about that…"

Grace looked at her, "You aren't gonna dump him, are you? You and Sharp are so stinkin' adorable. And those cute little girls of his... I just wanna keep 'em."

Faith chuckled and shook her head, "NO. No, it's just… I think he proposed to me. I mean, it's crazy, right?" Faith explained to her sister what Will said on the tarmac.

Grace laughed, "Last month, you were jumping around an oil rig. Today, you are fresh back from a trip to space where you saved the world. You are allowed to be a little crazy, Faithie. You love him and he loves you, I say you go for it. Just don't get married before me."

The two sisters laughed as one of the Air Force officers walked into the room. "Miss Stamper?"

Both of them answered, "Yes."

He looked at them and Faith smiled, "We're both 'Miss Stamper.' What can we do for you?"

He nodded, "Someone is here to see you."

They followed him into a small conference room where Hank Stamper stood looking out the window. "Grandpa?"

* * *

AN: If anyone ever watched a real shuttle landing, it's takes almost an hour for them to get out and depending on how long they were gone, they are wobbly on their feet.

Oh, and I decided not to end the story at the end of the movie.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: Sorry it took so long to post this chapter. I had to rewrite it a few times, I didn't like the other two versions. After this one is the epilogue.

* * *

"Look at you two. God, it's been… too long." Almost thirteen years. Hank blamed Harry for their mother leaving, told him that he couldn't raise girls on the rig, called him a failure and told him not to 'come asking for help.'

Their other grandfather and Hank were really close friends and their mother leaving caused a riff the size of the Grand Canyon leaving the girls in the middle. "Hi, grandpa."

Grace gave him a hug, Faith offered a hand, "Sir."

He chuckled, "Someone takes after her father."

She shrugged, "I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was one. I know we haven't seen each other in a while but I owe you an apology... I was an idiot. I sided with your mother when she left. I was always protective of Miranda… like Chick is with you if I had to guess. She was unhappy, none of us noticed how bad it was until the day she dropped you off with me and left.

I tried to reason with her but… seeing her like that… it broke my heart. I kept telling your dad to fix it. For a while he tried but then he gave up. At least, I thought he did. I realized a little too late that he was trying to do what was best for you girls while the rest of us were more concerned about Miranda. I can't tell you girls how sorry I am that I wasn't there for you… or him.

I saw you on TV. I always knew you were smart. I mean, look at you, you're an astronaut."

She chuckled, "Technically." While it was fast, they did all the required training and since she's been out of orbit past the fifty mile marker, she rated astronaut wings.

He nodded, "I know I don't deserve it but… would you girls be willing to give an old man a second chance?"

The sisters looked at each other for a second before they both nodded. Life is too short to hold a decade old grudge. He was their grandfather, their family. Faith smiled, "Yea, grandpa. We got a truckload of second chances to go around."

He chuckled, "End of the world does that."

Grace nodded, "Yea, something like that. You…"

"There you guys are. I've been all over the building looking for ya'll,"AJ said as he walked into the room.

Grace smiled, "All you had to do was ask. AJ, this is…"

Their grandfather jumped in, "Hank Stamper."

Her future brother-in-law smiled, "Harry's dad, nice to meet you. I'm AJ Frost, Grace's fiance."

Hank looked at her, "I know who you are, son. Your mama and papa were really good friends with Harry. Fiance huh?" They all nodded as he smiled, "Congrats. When's the big day?"

"Haven't decided yet, giant asteroid took priority."

Hank nodded at Grace before looking at Faith, "What about you, Faith? Got a special someone?"

She smiled as Grace chuckled, "Yea she does. Colonel Sharp popped the question."

Faith glared at her sister, "Gracie…"

The younger Stamper shrugged while AJ looked at Faith, "Really? What did you say?"

She took a breath, "I didn't get a chance to answer him."

AJ smiled, "You're gonna say yes, right? I mean, you know you want to." She wanted to shrug him off but, as usual, AJ had more of a read on her than she cared to admit.

"One wedding at a time, guys."

* * *

"Home, sweet home." It was weird not being at Johnson after spending so much time there. She got offers for all the guys to do one thing or another –probably to keep her mind busy- but she really just wanted to cry. She dropped her bag –and Harry and Freddy's bags- near the couch and slid the picture that Ella made for her from the cargo pocket of her pants. She unfolded it and smiled before using an old Stamper Oil magnet to stick it to the refrigerator.

Faith and Will didn't get a chance to have that conversation but she did have a lot of time to think. She thought about what her future looked like, about where she wanted to be, about who would be there with her; it was one of those conversations that the angel and devil on your shoulders have.

"What do you think, dad?" The picture of her, Harry and Grace on the end table offered her no reply but she wasn't really expecting it to. She had to stop herself from calling Harry a few times since they've been back. She pulls off 'stoic leader' in front of the others pretty well but she didn't even bother at home. She let the tears fall as she stepped outside and sat on her back patio, looking at the sky.

"I'd bet you'd make some joke about me always looking up. Then you'd tell me to go for it." It was odd to her that she'd been up there, something that not a lot of people have done. Harry would think that she's crazy for wanting to go back but she did.

"You got the itch." She wiped the tears off her face.

"What are you…?"

Will chuckled, "I know you better than you think I do. I figured you were out here."

She nodded, "I'm just thinking about Harry."

He smirked, "And the fact that you wanna go back."

She shrugged, "Truman offered me a job."

Will smiled, "He'd be an idiot not to. What do you want?"

"I want my dad. I know it's not possible but it's what I want. Since I can't have that… I guess I just wanna make him proud."

Will smiled, "He was proud of you. Anyone with eyes saw it. If Harry was here asking this same question, what would you say?"

"I would say something like 'I wanna do it but…'"

He shook his head, "No 'buts'. You want something; you figure out a way to it. That's who you are." Damn, Will really does have her pegged. It was almost scary that he knew her so well.

She looked at him, "What about you? What do you want?"

"You. I think I made that pretty clear, sweetheart." Faith chuckled as Will pulled her out of her seat, sat down in the chair and pulled her onto his lap.

She rested her head in the crook of his neck, "We aren't stuck at the space center anymore."

He smiled, "I know. I happen to like being stuck with you."

Faith rolled her eyes, "That whole 'look at me, I'm a sexy pilot' thing you got going on doesn't work on me."

"You wanna bet?"

Faith smiled, "Okay, maybe it does a little bit. I'm only human." Something was on his mind.

Will was quiet for a minute before he took a breath, "I've done a lot of things, Faith. Been all over the world... hell, I've been off the world. After everything with Jess fell apart… I never expected… I never expected someone like you. My father likes to say that when you know, you know. I've waited a lifetime for you, I just didn't know it until you locked those hazel eyes on me that first day. I don't care if it's next week or if it takes me ten years to talk you into it, I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

She touched his face and he turned to look at her, his blue eyes sparkling in the starlight. Faith knew he was serious, he wants to marry her. "Why?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Why what?"

She took a breath, "Why would you want to marry me? I mean, I'm…"

"Amazing, brilliant, caring, dedicated, enticing, fun, gorgeous, heroic, intriguing… You know, I got at least one for every letter in the alphabet."

Faith couldn't help but laugh, "Really?"

He nodded, "Of course I do. I bet you came up with a few of your own about me." She blushed, he was annoyingly right but she loves it. She loves him.

"Yes."

He looked at her, "I figured as much…"

Faith pressed her finger against his lips, "Not that. Well, yes to that but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying 'yes'…Yes, I'll marry you, just not this week." He kissed her finger before he moved her hand away from his face and brought their lips together.

* * *

Faith reached out, expecting to wrap her arm around Will but she felt an empty spot. She cracked her eyes open and found herself alone in bed. "Will?"

He chuckled, "Oh, look, my beautiful fiancee is awake. Good morning. Made some coffee."

She looked at him, "You're waltzing around my house with nothing on and I missed it?"

He smirked, "Maybe I can be convinced not to get dressed." Oh, that sounded like a challenge and Faith does love a challenge.

"What did you have in mind, Colonel?"

He sat the mug on the nightstand, "You tell me." She laughed as she grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the bed.

"You're better with words than I am," Faith whispered between kisses to his neck. Will chuckled, wrapped his arm around her waist and flipped them over so that she ended up sprawled across his body. Faith gigged.

"A giggle? I made Faith Stamper giggle."

She stared at him, "You think that's funny? I know for a fact that you're ticklish." She sat up, straddling him, and ran her hands along his sides and over his stomach.

"Don't even think about it, sweetheart." She smirked but before she could tickle him, Will grabbed her hands and pulled her against him.

"That's mean." He nodded before he kissed her. He let go of her hands, running his fingers along her arms. The atmosphere in the room changed in a millisecond. "You're playin' dirty," she whispered against his lips.

He smirked, "Oh, trust me, I know."

Her eyes fluttered closed as he ran his hands over her skin. "Will."

He chuckled, "Yes?"

She smiled, "Love you."

Will smiled up at her, "Love you too." Faith slipped her knees to either side of his hips and locked her eyes with Will's as she slowly slid onto him. "Oh..." He gripped her hips as she started to move, his eyes half closed.

She concentrated on the feel of him, her gaze ran over his chest and face. It was unfair for anyone to be this hot. He tangled his hand in her hair and pulled her down for a kiss. She could –and should- get used to this; Will for breakfast. Faith could feel her heart beating in her chest and his heart under her fingers. Her stomach muscles tightened and quivered as the pressure built. She could swear it felt like lava was racing through her veins with every move.

"Let go, Faith." The feel of his skin against hers, the sound of his voice in her ear; it was pulling her under. As soon as her rhythm faltered, Will took control and flipped them over and her body tightened around him. It was crazy how in tune they were with each other.

"W-will…" He pushed them both over the edge, Faith quivered around him. "So much better than coffee."

Will chuckled as he pressed kisses along her collarbone, "Yes, you are."

She rolled her eyes, "I'm gonna go take a shower, you comin'?"

He smirked, " You... naked... water... Like I would miss that."

* * *

How do you go back to real life after the world almost ends? New York, Paris and Shanghai were all in tatters, Stamper Oil was technically under new management, the spotlight was shining down on all the surviving team members and none of them knew where to begin.

Aside from Harry, Faith also had to deal with Freddy's belongings since he didn't have any family. She pulled an envelope from her bag; she found it when she cleaned out Freddy and Max's room.

_Faith,  
My crazy, beautiful, brilliant bestest friend in all of everything, if you're reading this, that means you made it back and I didn't. First things first, it's not your fault. Yea, I know you're blaming yourself (that's what you do) but you didn't cause this, you didn't ask us to do it and no matter what happened, you didn't cause my death. Now, the good stuff. _

_It's funny to me that I grew up an only child because I feel a big brother when it comes to you. I remember the day you showed up at the dock to get on the crew boat. I won't lie and say I didn't check you out, everyone but Chick did. _

_I never thought that I could be so close to a woman that I never slept with but you make us all do crazy things. I love you, Faithie. I know we don't get all sappy but I want you to know that. Being your friend is one of the best things to ever happen to me. Take of yourself and don't give Sharp a hard time. Let the man love you, it's impossible for anyone not to._

_Your friend 'til the end.  
Fred_

_P.S. There's a copy of my will behind this letter. Yes, it's right and yes, we already knew I was crazy._

Faith looked at the other papers she pulled from the envelope. "Of all the... that crazy son of a bitch."

Will looked at her, "Who?"

She shook her head, "Fredrick James Noonan, that's who. He left me everything." She handed him the copy of Freddy's will. Freddy had substantial savings and property near Chicago; he left it all to her. "I don't want it."

Will smiled, "Maybe not but he wanted you to have it. He was your best friend. My advice, go through his place and pick a few things that mean a lot to you and give the rest away."

Faith nodded, "Yea. That was the plan for dad's stuff too. It's just… it makes it real. I keep hoping that I'm in some bad dream and we haven't left yet. I wake up and it hits me that Harry and Freddy are gone. That Oscar isn't there to tease me. That Max isn't just grabbin' a bear claw and he'll be here soon. I even miss Davis, Tucker, Gruber and Halsey. Crazy right?"

"Not crazy. They were your teammates and you bonded. Tucker liked you and Davis thought that you were probably gonna be the one who saved our asses; which you and AJ did. Gruber thought you were cool and Halsey was impressed by you, which never happens. They bonded with you too. It's okay to miss them. I miss 'em all too, even Harry and the guys."

* * *

Of course, the President of the United States forced them all out of hiding and 'requested' that they join him at the White House for a ceremony but they weren't told what. "This is so cool," AJ whispered.

Faith rolled her eyes, "I hate this."

Will chuckled from next to her, "You could've said no. I couldn't but you could've."

She knew he was referring to the fact that he had to follow orders from his Commander in Chief but she didn't. "I'm not one for pomp and circumstance… or really over priced designer dresses. The only reason I'm not really annoyed is because I get to watch you walk around in your dress uniform."

All the guys either chuckled or nodded. "I like this look on you. And I'll remember how fond you are of my uniform for later, Miss Stamper."

She looked at Will as he smirked at her, "You're annoying."

He chuckled, "But you love me."

"Get a room." Faith looked at Rockhound.

Chick shook his head, "Says the man that who was dry humpin' his girlfriend on the tarmac."

Before he could make a rebuttal, an aide (?) walked into the room, "We'll be getting started soon."

They all nodded, "Thank you."

They were all ushered down the hall.

"Were getting medals," Will told her.

Faith chuckled, "You really think so?"

He nodded, "Yep."

* * *

Well, Will was right, every member of the crew –even those who didn't make it back- were awarded the Medal of Honor –the active duty military crew members- or the Presidential Medal of Freedom for the rest of them, including Lev.

"I'm proud of you," Will whispered against her ear as they stood off to the side at the stupid reception.

She chuckled, "You got a medal too. I saw it with my own eyes and everything."

He shook his head as rested her hands on the lapels of his uniform, "I meant for not punching the president over Secondary Protocol. I wanted to."

Faith laughed, "Can you imagine the press? 'Hero Decks Commander in Chief.' They'd have a field day."

Will nodded, "Would've been worth it, though."

* * *

"Six weeks."

Faith looked at her sister, "For…?"

Grace smiled, "The wedding is in six weeks. I know it seems soon but… I want to start living my life. We've all wallowed around for almost two months, it's time to do something with the lives you guys fought so hard for." They walked down the street by Faith's house. Grace had popped up and suggested some fresh air.

Faith nodded, "About that. I… want to give AJ part of Stamper Oil. I'll still own more of it than either of you but I don't want to run the company. I'm done."

Grace looked at her, "Are you sure?"

Faith nodded again, "I've been hiding out on that rig, so scared of being abandoned again. I think that's what dad was so worried about. Stamper Oil is in good hands. You know what you're doing on the operation's side and AJ knows how to run the rig as well as I do. Chick says he'll stay on as an advisor, Bear's going back and I'm only a phone call away."

"What are you gonna do?"

She smiled at her sister, "Relax before I go work for Truman. Officially, I already meet the requirements for NASA; it's just a matter of filling in the holes in my training and doing a security check. I know there's more to it but I get to skip over a lot of the hoops since I've been in space already."

"What does Sharp think?"

Faith smiled, "He doesn't know yet. I just made the decision two hours ago, I was on the phone with Truman when you showed up. Will's with his girls, I'm not gonna disturb them."

Grace smiled, "Awe, you're so cute when you're domestic-like."

"Shut up, Frost."


	12. Epilogue

AN: This is the end :( and a beginning.

* * *

_Five years later_

"Go ahead, Houston." Faith was in the shuttle Discovery prepping for their departure from the International Space Station. This was her first mission since the 'Fight for Earth' almost five years ago. Unlike that one, this mission was eighteen days long and the world wasn't in danger.

She wasn't expecting it when Houston put Will on the radio, "Hey, sweetheart."

She smiled, it was automatic when she heard his voice, "Hey, yourself. Isn't it like one am down there, what are you doing up?"

"You have a beautiful niece named Harriet." A lot of people expected a baby sooner from AJ and Grace but Faith knew her sister wanted to get settled in her new position running Stamper Oil before she added a kid to the mix.

Faith smiled, "How are they doin'?"

"They're good; I got to hold the baby. She looks just like you and Grace."

Faith laughed, "No AJ at all? That's probably a good thing."

She heard him chuckle, "Probably. Too bad the baby didn't wait a few more days. Grace and AJ are gonna miss you getting back."

"It's okay. You and the girls will be there, right?"

He chuckled, "Like we'd miss it. We're already in Florida."

She sighed, "Then I'll be fine. I miss you."

"I miss you too, sweetheart. I gotta go. Remind me to thank Clarke for letting me jack the radio for a few minutes." She heard the flight director tell Will that he was welcome and to get some sleep.

"You better listen to him, Colonel."

He chuckled, "Yes, ma'am. Telling me what to do from space. Kinda hot."

She laughed, "Shut up and go to bed. Kiss the girls for me."

"Will do, see you soon."

Watts looked at her, "A little girl. Karma is biting Frost in the ass." They both laughed. Everybody told AJ that he was gonna get a girl as God's way of punishing him but he laughed them off. "Maybe we'll get a baby Sharp now that this mission is over."

Faith looked at her friend, "Maybe we'll get a baby Watts."

The pilot shook her head, "I have a dog, I'm good and you're dodging."

Faith sighed, "Can we land safely before we plan out the next few years, Jen?"

Watts chuckled, "Yea, yea."

* * *

"Look what the cat dragged in." She smiled at her brother-in-law as he wrapped his arms around her. "Welcome home, astronaut. Hey, Willie. Clare and Ella, sup girls?" They both giggled as he high-fived them.

Faith loves AJ to death but he was not who she wanted to see, "Where's the baby?"

He rolled his eyes and pointed behind him, "You'd think nobody liked me anymore."

Will chuckled, "It's normal."

Faith didn't hear the rest of their conversation as she took in her sister sitting next to Denise with a tiny bundle in her arms. "Hey, sis."

Grace's face lit up, "Hey. I saw your landing on the news. Sorry we missed it but you're niece was done waiting for you. Wanna hold her?"

Faith nodded and sat down next to Grace, who gently handed her Harriet. "She's tiny," Faith whispered to no one in particular. Little eyes blinked open and the baby sighed; she had Faith's eyes. Will was right, she looked like Faith and Grace did when they were younger. "Hi, Harriet. I'm your Aunt Faith." The little girl looked at her, like she was doing an assessment to see if Faith was worthy. Harriet must have approved because she snuggled against Faith's chest and went back to sleep. "Guess she likes me."

Will chuckled, "What's not to like?" She rolled her eyes, the retort on the tip of her tongue died when she looked at her husband. She couldn't place the look he was sending her way but it was mesmerizing.

* * *

"Do you know what today is?"

She sighed as he kissed her neck, "I don't know. Did something special happen?" Faith was kidding; she knew what he was talking about.

"We met five years ago, today. You remember?" She smiled. It wasn't something she was likely to ever forget.

She dug up her best impersonation of Will, "'Good morning, I'm Colonel Willie Sharp. In addition to flying one of the X-71 teams to that rock, my job is to train you how to deal with the mental and physical riggers of working in space so you don't freak out on the asteroid. United States astronauts train for years. You have twelve days.' Like I could ever forget that hot pilot with the blue eyes."

"I did not sound like that."

Faith chuckled, "Yea you did. I think you were trying to scare us a little."

He smirked, "It worked on some of you. Not you, obviously."

She smiled against his chest, "Course not, I'm awesome."

"You most certainly are." Five years. Faith ran her fingers along his jaw and smiled. They got married a few months after Grace and AJ in a far smaller –like Grace, AJ, Grandpa Hank, Clare, Ella, Will's parents and Chick were the only people there- ceremony. Neither of them cared much for the attention.

"I think it's worth celebrating."

She knew that tone, "Really?"

He nodded, "We are going out tonight. Then, when we get home, I'm gonna kiss, touch and lick every inch of your beautiful body." Faith was already hot and bothered and he knew it.

"You're playing with fire."

She felt him smirk against her collarbone, "I'm quite aware of that, Misses Sharp."

* * *

"That's it; you're going to the doctor."

She glared at AJ, "Don't you have a wife and a child and a company to worry about? Go away."

She pulled the blanket over her head as AJ chuckled, "You're family, Faithie, and Grace is worried about you too. She'd be here herself but she doesn't want Harriet to get sick. I'll probably have to go through decon before she lets me near her."

"AJ…"

He looked at her, "Somebody has to keep an eye on you while Willie is at Kennedy."

She rolled her eyes, "He's at Canaveral, not Kennedy."

AJ raised an eyebrow, "Same difference."

Faith chuckled, "It's not and you know it's not." Kennedy was the space center and Cape Canaveral is the Air Force station.

"I don't wanna call him but I'll do it. You can't even keep water down. You look like death, sis."

She sighed, "Fine. Can I at least take a shower, first?" He nodded. If doing what he wants will get him to leave her alone, she'll do it. Faith didn't have the energy to fight, she felt like she was run over by a truck. They warned her that she could get sick after coming home, but she's been back for two months.

"Come on, I'll help ya." She was gonna tell him to fuck off but she realized that she needed his help to stand.

"This sucks." H

e chuckled, "Yea, it does. Look at the bright side, at least Rockhound isn't here." She smiled; he had a good point. Rockhound was all over the place these days and the last thing she needed was one of the many cameras following him to follow her.

* * *

"Hey, sweetheart."

Faith blinked her eyes open, "Hey. Where…?" The last thing she remembered, AJ was dragging her to the doctor.

Will smiled, "Hospital. You passed out in the car on the way here. How you feel?" She didn't really know and told him as much. She must have been out for a while if Will was here.

"They know anything yet?"

"No clue, I just got here a few minutes ago. AJ's trying to get some answers before Grace shows up." She chuckled; Grace was the sweetest person in the world… until something happened to one of them and then she became protective as hell. They all had copies of her body slamming Truman when they were on the asteroid; Faith was so proud. She looked at Will, he was still wearing the bright blue NASA jumpsuit.

"Sorry you had to leave Florida early."

He laughed, "Don't be. I'd rather be here with you. Besides, I was bored out of my mind. I'll fill you in later."

Faith chuckled, "You're grumpy when they do don't let you fly something."

He pressed a kiss to her temple, "It's what I do."

"Can I come in?" She nodded. Her brother looked like hell, "Doc's coming."

She looked up at AJ, "Sorry I scared ya."

He chuckled, "Good. Bake me some cookies and we'll call it even." Faith felt sick but there was nothing there.

"I shouldn't have left."

She squeezed Will's hand, "Probably be sick too."

"Not likely, Misses Sharp." The doctor pointed at AJ, "Friend?"

Will shook his head, "Her brother. You can talk in front of him."

The doctor nodded, "Have you ever heard of Hyperemesis gravidarum?"

Faith shook her head at the same time Will said "No."

"Most people haven't, it's rare. Excessive morning sickness. Starts between four and six weeks and subsides at twenty weeks at the latest. You've probably struggled to keep anything down, even your own saliva. The severe nausea, vomiting, weight loss, and electrolyte disturbance. It should go away in about nine to twelve weeks. I'll give you something to help and I would suggest taking it easy until the medication does its job. In the…"

"Wait… morning sickness?" Faith asked.

The doctor looked at her, "You didn't know?" She slowly shook her head and he smiled, "About five weeks from the blood work."

Faith looked at Will, "Babe…"

He smiled and rested his hand on her stomach, "A baby."

"So, she's okay and the only thing wrong is that she has hyperactive morning sickness?" Leave it to AJ to sum the whole thing up.

The doctor nodded, "Yes."

Her brother let out the breath he was holding and chuckled, "I owe Watts thirty bucks."

She rolled her eyes, "You bet against me? You know better." He kissed her head as the doctor gave them the rest of her info and discharged her.

"Wait 'til you tell Gracie."

* * *

"Awe… Little blue-eyed babies." Faith rolled her eyes, not that Grace could see it over the phone.

"Could be hazel… you know, like mine."

Grace chuckled, "Nope, blue. I bet it a boy and that kid is gonna look like Willie."

Faith took a breath, "How you figure?"

She chuckled, "Because the universe can't handle anymore Stamper women."

Ain't that the truth. AJ didn't even give Faith a chance to tell Grace, he beat her to it. Her sister was thrilled, after she teased the crap out of her for being second again. Faith was never in a rush, having two awesome stepdaughters helped.

"How's the Colonel doing with this?"

Faith smiled, "He's good. I'm more worried than he is. He has done this before."

Grace laughed, "He's never done this with you. How's he doing?"

The phone was gently pulled from her hand as Will rested his other hand on her growing stomach, "I'm the luckiest man in the known universe. First, this amazing woman marries me. Then, I find out that she's walking around carrying my child. That answer your question?"

Will chuckled at whatever her sister said and handed Faith her phone with a kiss. "See."

Grace chuckled, "I do. It's so sweet I think I'm sending him my dental bill."

Faith laughed, "Oh please. I've seen Frosty bust out the charm."

Grace laughed, "That's true. Hey, I gotta go, your niece just woke up. Love you."

Faith smiled, "Love you more."

Grace chuckled, "Love you most."

* * *

"Now, I know you like to keep a low profile but… you're showing and the press got wind of it. Everyone wants to talk to you."

Faith rolled her eyes, "How'd you get saddled with this conversation?"

Truman smiled, "HR ain't that brave."

She sighed, "One. NBC did the last one; they can do this one. I'm only speaking for myself. If Will doesn't want to do an interview, I'm not talking him into it since they're a pain in the ass. And they have to come to us."

Truman nodded, "Can do. I already asked Sharp, he said that he'd only do it if you said yes. I'll get the ball rolling. You know, I think your dad would be happy." She realized that Harry and Truman became friends before they all left and even though Harry was gone, Truman keep an eye on the girls like all the other guys did. "Any idea of what you're having?"

She shook her head, "Will knows. I want to be surprised. Nursery is light yellow stars and pale orange spaceships. Since I work here too, I have no clue if he's giving me a hint or not."

Truman laughed, "You scared?"

She shrugged, "A little but everybody keeps telling me it's normal."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "You're gonna be a good mom. I mean if Frost can take care of a baby…"

* * *

"I wanna know."

Will chuckled, "No you don't. Besides, you'll find out soon."

She glared at him, "I hate you so much right now."

He smiled, "You couldn't hate me if you tried." He ran his fingers through her hair, "You are doin' great, sweetheart."

"How the hell do you know?" He was starting to get on her nerves with his handsome face and all that calmness. She knew he was distracting her from the doctors and nurses but she was in too much pain to be nice. "This is your fault."

Will chuckled, "Only because I find my wife insanely irresistible. You can't be pissed at me for that." She took a deep breath as another contraction hit.

"I'd rather blowup another asteroid."

"You want me to hold you?" She raised an eyebrow as Will smiled and slid onto the bed behind her. She leaned back into his embrace. "Better?"

Faith nodded, "I don't know if I can do this, Will."

He laughed, "You're the toughest person I know, sweetheart. You got this." He kissed her behind her ear and held her hands.

* * *

"Okay, pay up," Grace held out her hand as Bear, Watts, and Chick reached in pockets to hand her money.

"What was the bet?"

Her sister smiled, "Gender with Chick, eye color with Jen and closeness to your due date with Bear. I won all three."

Will shook his head and he rocked the tiny child in his arms, "They're betting on our kid."

"You're sharing that with me, right, sis?"

Grace nodded and handed her the cash, "Start a college fund."

Faith rolled her eyes, "Yes, mother."

There was a knock at the door and Grace moved to open it, "Hey, guys." It was AJ, Rockhound, Lev, Truman, Will's parents, Clare, Ella and Jess.

The two women couldn't be more different but the current and former Misses Sharps became pretty good friends. It made being a stepmom easy, not having to fight with your husband's ex-wife. Jess smiled, "How you feel?" Faith sighed and Jess laughed, "Oh, I remember that feeling."

"Can we see the baby, daddy?" Ella asked.

He nodded, "Of course you can." Everyone looked on for a few minutes before Rockhound –the media whore- asked the million dollar question.

"So… what's the baby's name?"

Faith shrugged and looked at Will, "I have no clue. I didn't even know what the baby was until a few hours ago. Will named him."

Everyone looked at her husband, "Henry William Sharp. Harry for short."

Rockhound handed Grace a twenty and Faith laughed, "You too. Let me guess, name?"

He nodded, "She said you guys would name the kid after your dad. I said Freddy."

"Almost went with Fred but Stamper had such a good name. This little guy is named after kings and heroes," Will told the room.

Before anyone else could say anything, a nurse pushed her way in, "Alright people, let's let the new mama get some rest."

One by one everyone made their way out of the room. AJ and Grace were last. Her brother kissed her cheek, "I'll stop by tomorrow. Love you, Faithie."

She smiled, "Love you too, Frosty. Kiss my niece for me."

He nodded as Grace gave her a hug and kissed Harry on his head, "If dad could see us now."

"I like to think he's keepin' an eye on us. Freddy, Oscar and Max too."

Grace smiled, "You know you owe me…"

Faith sighed, "You were right, Grace. We came back and had a cute little blue-eyed baby. You called it."

Grace chuckled, "I know, I just wanted to hear you say it. Love you."

"Love you more, sweetie." Grace kissed her head and followed AJ out of the room. For the first time, Faith, Will and baby Harry were alone. She watched them for a minute, "You know… I don't regret any of it. I would do everything again, good and bad, if it meant I ended up here with you."

Will smiled and looked at their son, "Me neither. What do you think, little guy?"

Harry looked at them, he didn't make any expression but she was wasn't expecting one. "He looks like you."

Her husband smirked, "I have a feeling that he'll act more like you."

Faith looked at him, "What does that mean?"

"Smart, determined and impossible to ignore."


End file.
